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 Libya and from Mumbai.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 kango's stein massive to the disco 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 The Mighty Diamonds. All the underground hits.
All Lightning Bolt tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric B and Rakim record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Vogues,
Talk Talk,
Todd Terry,
Dorothy Ashby,
Cecil Taylor,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Joyce Sims,
Suburban Knight,
The Young Rascals,
The Walker Brothers,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Masters at Work,
Radio Birdman,
Bill Wells,
Audionom,
Yusef Lateef,
The Monks,
48th St. Collective,
Basic Channel,
Sonny Sharrock,
Godley & Creme,
Andrew Hill,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Cure,
Fela Kuti,
Davy DMX,
John Cale,
K-Klass,
Japan,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Sonics,
Tom Boy,
Lucky Dragons,
Theoretical Girls,
Anthony Braxton,
The Busters,
Trumans Water,
Neu!,
Lungfish,
Fad Gadget,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bang On A Can,
Roy Ayers,
Grauzone,
Darondo,
Q65,
Dark Day,
Tommy Roe,
Section 25,
Bill Near,
Ronan,
Schoolly D,
Liliput,
Sight & Sound,
Intrusion,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Barrington Levy,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Misunderstood,
Janne Schatter,
cv313, cv313, cv313, cv313.
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.