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 Tehran.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the marimba 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 Stiv Bators to the jazz kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Stiv Bators 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Blossom Toes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Arthur Verocai,
B.T. Express,
a-ha,
Zero Boys,
Theoretical Girls,
the Slits,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Faraquet,
Fad Gadget,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Pet Shop Boys,
Aswad,
Schoolly D,
Reagan Youth,
Isaac Hayes,
John Coltrane,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Glenn Branca,
ABBA,
The Fire Engines,
Gregory Isaacs,
Neil Young,
Unrelated Segments,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Fall,
The Misunderstood,
Lyres,
Eric B and Rakim,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Jerry's Kids,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Kool Moe Dee,
Royal Trux,
The Dirtbombs,
Nation of Ulysses,
Marine Girls,
Amazonics,
The Evens,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Joe Smooth,
DJ Sneak,
The Trojans,
Rakim,
Reuben Wilson,
Marmalade,
Animal Collective,
DJ Style,
Sister Nancy,
10cc,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Skaos,
Sound Behaviour,
Goldenarms,
Fugazi,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Gastr Del Sol,
These Immortal Souls,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Quando Quango,
Dennis Brown,
The Seeds,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Hasil Adkins,
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
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.