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 Ghana and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 Robert Palmer 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 Mojo Men to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Freddie Wadling. All the underground hits.
All Minutemen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Guru Guru 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rufus Thomas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Johnny Osbourne,
H. Thieme,
Be Bop Deluxe,
MC5,
June of 44,
Popol Vuh,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Young Rascals,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Hasil Adkins,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Au Pairs,
Maleditus Sound,
Kurtis Blow,
Swell Maps,
Audionom,
UT,
Nils Olav,
Danielle Patucci,
The Alarm Clocks,
Oneida,
Underground Resistance,
T.S.O.L.,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Raincoats,
Magma,
Suicide,
Blake Baxter,
D'Angelo,
Rosa Yemen,
Slick Rick,
X-Ray Spex,
Depeche Mode,
Animal Collective,
Masters at Work,
E-Dancer,
The Smoke,
Mo-Dettes,
Leonard Cohen,
F. McDonald,
kango's stein massive,
The Seeds,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Jawbox,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Derrick May,
Von Mondo,
Second Layer,
Peter and Kerry,
The Pretty Things,
Sparks,
Con Funk Shun,
Radiohead,
Grauzone,
Kool Moe Dee,
Bill Wells,
Bobby Byrd,
The Doobie Brothers,
the Sonics,
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke.
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.