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 Angola and from Manila.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Edmonton.
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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 The Monochrome Set to the funk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Black Bananas. All the underground hits.
All Flamin' Groovies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Iggy Pop 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
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 Pere Ubu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Skatalites,
Television,
OOIOO,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Sun Ra,
Basic Channel,
Susan Cadogan,
Bob Dylan,
Anthony Braxton,
Barry Ungar,
The Seeds,
Von Mondo,
Frankie Knuckles,
Scratch Acid,
Urselle,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The Grass Roots,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
JFA,
The Gories,
Adolescents,
Dead Boys,
Loose Ends,
Agitation Free,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
cv313,
Junior Murvin,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Tears for Fears,
Gang Green,
Severed Heads,
Man Parrish,
Ultimate Spinach,
X-101,
Boogie Down Productions,
the Bar-Kays,
Josef K,
Newcleus,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Misunderstood,
Smog,
Soul Sonic Force,
One Last Wish,
The Star Department,
Toni Rubio,
David Axelrod,
Thee Headcoats,
E-Dancer,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Kinks,
John Coltrane,
Steve Hackett,
The Music Machine,
Gregory Isaacs,
Clear Light,
The Slits,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis.
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.