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 Tunisia and from Hong Kong.
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 1967 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Taipei.
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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Connie Case to the jazz 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 cv313. All the underground hits.
All Howard Jones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scion 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Suburban Knight record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fad Gadget,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Juan Atkins,
Johnny Clarke,
Cal Tjader,
Reagan Youth,
Jeru the Damaja,
Gang Green,
Sandy B,
The Names,
Heaven 17,
Rosa Yemen,
The Star Department,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Seeds,
Harry Pussy,
Arcadia,
Alton Ellis,
Vainqueur,
Circle Jerks,
One Last Wish,
Ralphi Rosario,
Japan,
Funky Four + One,
Judy Mowatt,
The Standells,
Girls At Our Best!,
Sparks,
Eyeless In Gaza,
The Durutti Column,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
B.T. Express,
The Evens,
Lou Christie,
The Gladiators,
The Monochrome Set,
Lebanon Hanover,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Mantronix,
Reuben Wilson,
Minny Pops,
The Saints,
Sällskapet,
Rufus Thomas,
Pere Ubu,
Organ,
Absolute Body Control,
Althea and Donna,
Freddie Wadling,
The Count Five,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Marc Almond,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Mummies,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Nik Kershaw,
Ornette Coleman,
Tim Buckley,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Lyres, Lyres, Lyres, Lyres.
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.