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 Lesotho and from Cairo.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the guitar 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 Barrington Levy to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Shuggie Otis. All the underground hits.
All Scott Walker tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Minnie Riperton record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Boredoms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Alphaville,
Don Cherry,
Harry Pussy,
ABBA,
The Doobie Brothers,
Brothers Johnson,
Jandek,
UT,
Peter & Gordon,
Byron Stingily,
The American Breed,
X-102,
Heaven 17,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Gong,
New Age Steppers,
Roy Ayers,
Shoche,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Raincoats,
Blossom Toes,
Barbara Tucker,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Busters,
A Certain Ratio,
Liliput,
The Star Department,
Thompson Twins,
Albert Ayler,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Public Image Ltd.,
Flamin' Groovies,
the Human League,
The Trojans,
Andrew Hill,
The Music Machine,
Goldenarms,
Scan 7,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Grandmaster Flash,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Depeche Mode,
Animal Collective,
The Residents,
Toni Rubio,
Pussy Galore,
Ohio Players,
Marmalade,
Tim Buckley,
Glenn Branca,
Essential Logic,
Spandau Ballet,
Radio Birdman,
Patti Smith,
U.S. Maple,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Black Pus,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Nils Olav, Nils Olav, Nils Olav, Nils Olav.
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.