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 Moldova and from Woodstock.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 oboe 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 Ponytail to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All The Slits tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Harmonia 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 oboe and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The United States of America record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Suicide,
One Last Wish,
The Gun Club,
Black Bananas,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Roy Ayers,
X-101,
Jacques Brel,
Angry Samoans,
The Skatalites,
Masters at Work,
The J.B.'s,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Adolescents,
Funky Four + One,
Los Fastidios,
Fad Gadget,
Eve St. Jones,
Kayak,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Knickerbockers,
Laurel Aitken,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
kango's stein massive,
Yusef Lateef,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Whodini,
The Neon Judgement,
Swans,
Khruangbin,
Camberwell Now,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Reagan Youth,
Television,
Patti Smith,
X-Ray Spex,
The Blackbyrds,
Supertramp,
Mission of Burma,
Agitation Free,
Soul II Soul,
Iggy Pop,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Dark Day,
Livin' Joy,
Main Source,
Man Parrish,
Kerrie Biddell,
Cameo,
B.T. Express,
Lou Christie,
Gang Gang Dance,
Roxy Music,
Index,
The Barracudas,
Half Japanese,
Albert Ayler,
Bill Wells,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Sonics,
Lakeside,
F. McDonald,
Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band.
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.