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 Djibouti and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Lee Hazlewood to the grime kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Davy DMX. All the underground hits.
All Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rahsaan Roland Kirk record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nick Fraelich record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kurtis Blow,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Wire,
Jawbox,
The Monks,
Black Bananas,
Stiv Bators,
Drive Like Jehu,
the Sonics,
Soft Machine,
Bang On A Can,
Davy DMX,
Peter and Kerry,
Roy Ayers,
Fluxion,
Tom Boy,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Howard Jones,
Newcleus,
World's Most,
Archie Shepp,
Iggy Pop,
Dennis Brown,
Cheater Slicks,
Los Fastidios,
Patti Smith,
The Move,
Skarface,
DNA,
Rufus Thomas,
Symarip,
Mission of Burma,
Jeff Mills,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Oblivians,
Sight & Sound,
Masters at Work,
Hot Snakes,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Cowsills,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Modern Lovers,
Half Japanese,
June Days,
X-Ray Spex,
Niagra,
Malaria!,
Ultimate Spinach,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Jandek,
Anakelly,
Kas Product,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
ABBA,
The Fortunes,
Joe Finger,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Tremeloes,
Kayak,
This Heat,
The Birthday Party,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The Index,
MC5, MC5, MC5, MC5.
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.