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 Lebanon and from Taipei.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the organ 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 Minnie Riperton to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Johnny Clarke. All the underground hits.
All Desert Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Leonard Cohen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Chrome record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Peter and Kerry,
Porter Ricks,
Prince Buster,
Audionom,
Todd Rundgren,
X-102,
Gregory Isaacs,
Blossom Toes,
David McCallum,
Rotary Connection,
The Trojans,
Easy Going,
Stockholm Monsters,
Glenn Branca,
Roy Ayers,
Guru Guru,
Model 500,
Agitation Free,
The Doors,
Scion,
Dennis Brown,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Sparks,
Nico,
Ice-T,
X-Ray Spex,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Moleskins,
Echospace,
Man Parrish,
Boredoms,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Flipper,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Suburban Knight,
Charles Mingus,
Gang of Four,
Bobby Womack,
Mark Hollis,
Cluster,
Johnny Osbourne,
Zero Boys,
Flash Fearless,
Loose Ends,
Fad Gadget,
Scratch Acid,
The Invisible,
Inner City,
Dorothy Ashby,
Johnny Clarke,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Thompson Twins,
Alison Limerick,
Aural Exciters,
Scan 7,
Leonard Cohen,
Malaria!,
Sarah Menescal,
Whodini,
Niagra,
Pulsallama, Pulsallama, Pulsallama, Pulsallama.
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.