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 Belarus and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 synthesizer 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 The Zeros to the grime kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Pere Ubu. All the underground hits.
All These Immortal Souls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Unwound record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Gories record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Flamin' Groovies,
Sandy B,
Todd Terry,
The Star Department,
Avey Tare,
Ralphi Rosario,
Harpers Bizarre,
Khruangbin,
Eric B and Rakim,
Bluetip,
Marvin Gaye,
Ituana,
Letta Mbulu,
The Golliwogs,
The Smiths,
Frankie Knuckles,
Can,
Warsaw,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Franke,
Supertramp,
Alphaville,
T. Rex,
Hashim,
The Vogues,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Kinks,
Brick,
The Toasters,
Bauhaus,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Associates,
Gregory Isaacs,
Animal Collective,
Eve St. Jones,
Sun City Girls,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Q and Not U,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Arab on Radar,
Lebanon Hanover,
Parry Music,
Oneida,
Tom Boy,
the Swans,
Blake Baxter,
The Sound,
a-ha,
Nick Fraelich,
X-101,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Soft Machine,
Sparks,
Von Mondo,
The Buckinghams,
Throbbing Gristle,
Television,
Infiniti,
The Raincoats,
Jandek,
The Gories,
Rod Modell, Rod Modell, Rod Modell, Rod Modell.
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.