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 Solomon Islands and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 chamberlin 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 Country Joe & The Fish to the rock kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Glenn Branca. All the underground hits.
All Kas Product tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang on a Can All-Stars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mantronix record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jandek,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Das Ding,
Mad Mike,
Tropical Tobacco,
Eric Copeland,
Alice Coltrane,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Matthew Bourne,
Mantronix,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Supertramp,
Crooked Eye,
Harmonia,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
the Bar-Kays,
Newcleus,
Eric Dolphy,
Henry Cow,
Mars,
Donald Byrd,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Panda Bear,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Grass Roots,
Ronan,
The Buckinghams,
Marshall Jefferson,
Thee Headcoats,
Black Bananas,
Man Parrish,
The Angels of Light,
Lyres,
Aural Exciters,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Adolescents,
Ludus,
MDC,
Urselle,
Drive Like Jehu,
Scientists,
John Lydon,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
David Bowie,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Joy Division,
Average White Band,
Nils Olav,
June Days,
X-101,
Lalann,
Y Pants,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
PIL,
Procol Harum,
Black Sheep,
Todd Rundgren,
The Shadows of Knight,
Funky Four + One,
John Coltrane,
New York Dolls,
Malaria!,
B.T. Express,
Icehouse, Icehouse, Icehouse, Icehouse.
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.