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 Malawi and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Boz Scaggs to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Mad Mike. All the underground hits.
All Cheater Slicks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Franke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Howard Jones,
The Velvet Underground,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Bush Tetras,
Rhythm & Sound,
Dorothy Ashby,
Unwound,
CMW,
Ice-T,
the Swans,
Q65,
Scion,
Wings,
The Misunderstood,
Max Romeo,
Gang Gang Dance,
T. Rex,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Q and Not U,
Robert Hood,
The Sonics,
Jimmy McGriff,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Seeds,
Brick,
Dennis Brown,
Tears for Fears,
Ituana,
Sun Ra,
Tres Demented,
L. Decosne,
Mo-Dettes,
Crooked Eye,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Gories,
Eden Ahbez,
Parry Music,
Pulsallama,
Isaac Hayes,
Soft Machine,
Gabor Szabo,
Scott Walker,
Thompson Twins,
The Selecter,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Fat Boys,
Joe Finger,
Mr. Review,
Hashim,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Cheater Slicks,
Mandrill,
Pet Shop Boys,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Harry Pussy,
Boredoms,
Harpers Bizarre,
Darondo,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Arthur Verocai,
X-102,
Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin.
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.