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 Oman and from Philadelphia.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Mr. Review to the rap 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 The Mighty Diamonds. All the underground hits.
All The Black Dice tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Oneida record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Soft Cell,
Throbbing Gristle,
James White and The Blacks,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
LL Cool J,
The Dave Clark Five,
Junior Murvin,
David Axelrod,
cv313,
Fela Kuti,
Dave Gahan,
Fugazi,
Jesper Dahlback,
Pharoah Sanders,
Liliput,
Flamin' Groovies,
Johnny Clarke,
Fatback Band,
UT,
The Fugs,
Arthur Verocai,
Janne Schatter,
Aaron Thompson,
The Offenders,
Brick,
Fad Gadget,
Judy Mowatt,
The Walker Brothers,
Unwound,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Mantronix,
The Pop Group,
The Birthday Party,
Brass Construction,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Sällskapet,
Infiniti,
8 Eyed Spy,
Mars,
The Techniques,
Girls At Our Best!,
Joy Division,
Public Image Ltd.,
Public Enemy,
Harry Pussy,
Josef K,
F. McDonald,
Boz Scaggs,
Toni Rubio,
June Days,
Pussy Galore,
The Fall,
Eli Mardock,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Grass Roots,
DJ Sneak,
Michelle Simonal,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Scientists,
John Lydon,
Pere Ubu,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Cramps,
Rod Modell,
Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield.
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.