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 Lithuania and from Portland.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 arpeggiator 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 Hasil Adkins to the funk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Sällskapet. All the underground hits.
All Angry Samoans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultimate Spinach record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fela Kuti record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kas Product,
Fear,
X-Ray Spex,
Aloha Tigers,
Public Image Ltd.,
Reagan Youth,
The American Breed,
Hashim,
Toni Rubio,
The Buckinghams,
Zero Boys,
Bang On A Can,
Andrew Hill,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Robert Hood,
Jacques Brel,
Isaac Hayes,
New Age Steppers,
Bob Dylan,
Spandau Ballet,
Excepter,
Funkadelic,
Jandek,
D'Angelo,
Thee Headcoats,
Aural Exciters,
Negative Approach,
the Fania All-Stars,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Aswad,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Durutti Column,
Rod Modell,
Black Bananas,
Wolf Eyes,
Throbbing Gristle,
KRS-One,
Rakim,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Drexciya,
the Swans,
Clear Light,
Make Up,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Angels of Light,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Scientists,
Sixth Finger,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Lebanon Hanover,
Sonic Youth,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Banda Bassotti,
The Pretty Things,
Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot.
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.