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 Spokane.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 snare 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 Urselle to the jazz 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 The Selecter. All the underground hits.
All Jacques Brel tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Con Funk Shun 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Notorious Big And Bone Thugs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Detroit Cobras,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Derrick Morgan,
Matthew Halsall,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Interpol,
Grey Daturas,
The Trojans,
Jimmy McGriff,
Morten Harket,
Agitation Free,
Lou Reed,
The Fugs,
Inner City,
Ultra Naté,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
the Swans,
U.S. Maple,
The Young Rascals,
The Zeros,
FM Einheit,
Bronski Beat,
Lebanon Hanover,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Neon Judgement,
Bobby Hutcherson,
cv313,
Kenny Larkin,
10cc,
Sam Rivers,
Colin Newman,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
John Coltrane,
X-Ray Spex,
Henry Cow,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Public Image Ltd.,
Lucky Dragons,
Blossom Toes,
Freddie Wadling,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Crime,
Brass Construction,
Hasil Adkins,
Infiniti,
Scott Walker,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
the Bar-Kays,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Saccharine Trust,
Tomorrow,
Black Sheep,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Robert Hood,
Prince Buster,
Sandy B,
David McCallum,
Connie Case, Connie Case, Connie Case, Connie Case.
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.