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 the UAE and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Smoke to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Minny Pops. All the underground hits.
All Dead Boys tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ajijia Myrayebe record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Popol Vuh record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gang Gang Dance,
Rotary Connection,
Scion,
Tres Demented,
Frankie Knuckles,
Sparks,
Ice-T,
John Foxx,
Flash Fearless,
Cheater Slicks,
The Birthday Party,
Don Cherry,
Anthony Braxton,
48th St. Collective,
Khruangbin,
Sight & Sound,
Cecil Taylor,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Eurythmics,
Donny Hathaway,
Carl Craig,
Model 500,
Eden Ahbez,
The Shadows of Knight,
Gabor Szabo,
10cc,
Yazoo,
Warren Ellis,
These Immortal Souls,
Scott Walker,
Scan 7,
Dennis Brown,
Sam Rivers,
D'Angelo,
The Flesh Eaters,
Al Stewart,
Joey Negro,
Bill Wells,
Pylon,
It's A Beautiful Day,
R.M.O.,
Television Personalities,
Wire,
Ponytail,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Albert Ayler,
Nik Kershaw,
Flamin' Groovies,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Tears for Fears,
The Blues Magoos,
Eli Mardock,
Michelle Simonal,
Black Flag,
Black Bananas,
Panda Bear,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Letta Mbulu,
Scrapy,
The Wake,
Von Mondo,
Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu.
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.