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 Mozambique and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Radio Birdman to the rap 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 Skriet. All the underground hits.
All Archie Shepp tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Flag 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Moleskins record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Remains,
Altered Images,
Donald Byrd,
Susan Cadogan,
Harry Pussy,
Yazoo,
Chrome,
Von Mondo,
The J.B.'s,
DJ Sneak,
Monolake,
Cecil Taylor,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
One Last Wish,
The Monochrome Set,
Minutemen,
Bob Dylan,
Subhumans,
Hasil Adkins,
Minny Pops,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Trumans Water,
Peter & Gordon,
Drexciya,
Connie Case,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Bootsy Collins,
X-Ray Spex,
Stiv Bators,
Ken Boothe,
Reagan Youth,
Letta Mbulu,
Ronnie Foster,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
This Heat,
World's Most,
Flamin' Groovies,
In Retrospect,
Marc Almond,
The Fugs,
The Human League,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Metal Thangz,
Section 25,
The Techniques,
B.T. Express,
Deakin,
The Victims,
T. Rex,
Spoonie Gee,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Deadbeat,
Grey Daturas,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Khruangbin,
The Dead C,
Roy Ayers,
L. Decosne,
Animal Collective,
MDC,
Saccharine Trust,
Basic Channel, Basic Channel, Basic Channel, Basic Channel.
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.