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 Laos and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1967 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 The Index to the dance kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Chris Corsano. All the underground hits.
All Talk Talk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sad Lovers and Giants record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cosmic Jokers 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?
The Count Five,
Ponytail,
D'Angelo,
Moby Grape,
Joe Smooth,
Barbara Tucker,
Jacob Miller,
Bad Manners,
Young Marble Giants,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Eric Copeland,
Danielle Patucci,
The Standells,
Todd Rundgren,
The Slackers,
Saccharine Trust,
Gregory Isaacs,
The New Christs,
Jawbox,
Tropical Tobacco,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Steve Hackett,
Urselle,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Althea and Donna,
Simply Red,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Victims,
The Stooges,
Hot Snakes,
Roger Hodgson,
Porter Ricks,
Radio Birdman,
Gastr Del Sol,
John Foxx,
The Leaves,
Japan,
Black Flag,
Rites of Spring,
David Bowie,
The Red Krayola,
FM Einheit,
Cecil Taylor,
Don Cherry,
Magazine,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Moebius,
Susan Cadogan,
Second Layer,
CMW,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
OOIOO,
Fad Gadget,
Average White Band,
Minny Pops,
Warren Ellis,
The Slits,
the Association,
Niagra, Niagra, Niagra, Niagra.
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.