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 Brunei and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Spokane.
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 clarinet 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 Donny Hathaway to the funk 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 Marvin Gaye. All the underground hits.
All Leonard Cohen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Larry & the Blue Notes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Five Americans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Unwound,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Adolescents,
The American Breed,
The Victims,
Pierre Henry,
Shoche,
The Move,
Lebanon Hanover,
Scott Walker,
Sexual Harrassment,
Joe Smooth,
Malaria!,
The Black Dice,
Jandek,
The Red Krayola,
The Count Five,
The Neon Judgement,
Terrestrial Tones,
Skaos,
Pet Shop Boys,
Traffic Nightmare,
Flash Fearless,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Mummies,
Depeche Mode,
Kenny Larkin,
Avey Tare,
Hoover,
Eric B and Rakim,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Section 25,
Fela Kuti,
Dorothy Ashby,
Piero Umiliani,
Funky Four + One,
Eden Ahbez,
Delta 5,
The Leaves,
Joey Negro,
Deadbeat,
Excepter,
Electric Prunes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Vainqueur,
Marvin Gaye,
Robert Hood,
Aswad,
Soul Sonic Force,
Whodini,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Durutti Column,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
D'Angelo,
Zero Boys,
The Fuzztones,
Danielle Patucci,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Velvet Underground,
The Smiths,
Jesper Dahlback,
Stereo Dub,
Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four.
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.