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 Vietnam and from Delhi.
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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Flash Fearless to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 DJ Sneak. All the underground hits.
All The Busters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Half Japanese record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roger Hodgson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
In Retrospect,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Basic Channel,
Joey Negro,
Yazoo,
Bang On A Can,
Suicide,
The Beau Brummels,
Half Japanese,
Alice Coltrane,
The Blues Magoos,
U.S. Maple,
Country Teasers,
The Litter,
Matthew Bourne,
Derrick May,
John Holt,
Yellowson,
Jesper Dahlback,
Susan Cadogan,
Swell Maps,
Second Layer,
Aural Exciters,
Roger Hodgson,
E-Dancer,
Toni Rubio,
Camberwell Now,
Mantronix,
Blake Baxter,
Avey Tare,
Symarip,
Bob Dylan,
the Fania All-Stars,
Subhumans,
The Birthday Party,
Von Mondo,
Scott Walker,
Yaz,
Kevin Saunderson,
Loose Ends,
Marine Girls,
Trumans Water,
Suburban Knight,
Deepchord,
Eden Ahbez,
Jacques Brel,
X-Ray Spex,
The Angels of Light,
Alison Limerick,
Throbbing Gristle,
Delon & Dalcan,
Organ,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Slits,
The Moleskins,
The Flesh Eaters,
Cheater Slicks,
Tommy Roe,
Terry Callier,
The Gladiators,
The Cramps,
Isaac Hayes,
Smog, Smog, Smog, Smog.
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.