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 Mongolia and from Winnipeg.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 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 Qualms to the jazz 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 Marmalade. All the underground hits.
All Jerry Gold Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ludus 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Susan Cadogan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Knickerbockers,
Banda Bassotti,
The Durutti Column,
Adolescents,
Y Pants,
The Barracudas,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Agitation Free,
Camouflage,
Eric Dolphy,
Nirvana,
The Happenings,
Brand Nubian,
Jawbox,
The Grass Roots,
Schoolly D,
Leonard Cohen,
Wings,
Brothers Johnson,
Unrelated Segments,
Motorama,
Alphaville,
Kerri Chandler,
Magma,
Jeff Mills,
Matthew Halsall,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Steve Hackett,
Quadrant,
Dorothy Ashby,
Dave Gahan,
Qualms,
Depeche Mode,
Crime,
Slick Rick,
Joe Smooth,
Avey Tare,
Bang On A Can,
The Associates,
Robert Görl,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Pantaleimon,
Stereo Dub,
Japan,
PIL,
Grauzone,
Sugar Minott,
Hasil Adkins,
Lou Christie,
K-Klass,
Charles Mingus,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Babytalk,
Soft Machine,
Gong,
T.S.O.L.,
The Cowsills,
Camberwell Now,
Audionom,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Theoretical Girls,
Reagan Youth,
The Evens, The Evens, The Evens, The Evens.
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.