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 Zimbabwe and from Stockholm.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Trumans Water to the punk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Louis and Bebe Barron. All the underground hits.
All The J.B.'s tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alice Coltrane record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Avey Tare record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Schoolly D,
Bauhaus,
Barry Ungar,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Fall,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Ohio Players,
Animal Collective,
Ornette Coleman,
Rufus Thomas,
John Lydon,
Grauzone,
Bobby Byrd,
Yazoo,
Q and Not U,
Drexciya,
Kurtis Blow,
The Blackbyrds,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Wings,
Boogie Down Productions,
Grey Daturas,
Babytalk,
Urselle,
Y Pants,
John Foxx,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Mark Hollis,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Jeru the Damaja,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Joy Division,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Colin Newman,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Flamin' Groovies,
Parry Music,
The Music Machine,
The Walker Brothers,
Judy Mowatt,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
EPMD,
Procol Harum,
David Bowie,
Aaron Thompson,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Ituana,
Accadde A,
The Saints,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Seeds,
Altered Images,
L. Decosne,
Thee Headcoats,
10cc,
The Stooges,
Scion,
Sandy B,
Basic Channel,
Rakim,
F. McDonald,
Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale.
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.