Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Egypt and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Gerry Rafferty to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Sonic Youth. All the underground hits.
All Peter and Kerry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Associates record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rod Modell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Alarm Clocks,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Circle Jerks,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Patti Smith,
Terry Callier,
Liliput,
June Days,
Leonard Cohen,
the Association,
Isaac Hayes,
Brass Construction,
Junior Murvin,
Nation of Ulysses,
Bush Tetras,
Juan Atkins,
Country Teasers,
Spandau Ballet,
Grandmaster Flash,
Animal Collective,
X-101,
Simply Red,
Con Funk Shun,
Motorama,
Godley & Creme,
Buzzcocks,
Brothers Johnson,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Maleditus Sound,
Symarip,
The Fall,
Mary Jane Girls,
Yusef Lateef,
Mark Hollis,
Gastr Del Sol,
Donny Hathaway,
Zero Boys,
Rites of Spring,
Nik Kershaw,
Wolf Eyes,
Lower 48,
New York Dolls,
Soft Cell,
Make Up,
Rod Modell,
Unrelated Segments,
AZ,
Popol Vuh,
John Holt,
The Slits,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Seeds,
Ronan,
Johnny Clarke,
Roger Hodgson,
the Slits,
Index,
Ten City,
Soft Machine,
Bobby Byrd,
Lalo Schifrin,
Audionom, Audionom, Audionom, Audionom.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.