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 Singapore and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1964 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Lebanon Hanover to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Tres Demented. All the underground hits.
All Echospace tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kaleidoscope record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Standells record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bill Wells,
Robert Hood,
Boogie Down Productions,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Barbara Tucker,
Tubeway Army,
Liliput,
The Real Kids,
Pole,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Fat Boys,
Jandek,
Aural Exciters,
Wire,
Girls At Our Best!,
Gregory Isaacs,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Index,
Delon & Dalcan,
Parry Music,
Godley & Creme,
Hot Snakes,
Harry Pussy,
Pierre Henry,
John Foxx,
Banda Bassotti,
Connie Case,
Lebanon Hanover,
Chris Corsano,
Youth Brigade,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Janne Schatter,
Heaven 17,
Spandau Ballet,
Graham Central Station,
Flash Fearless,
Rotary Connection,
Scott Walker,
Donny Hathaway,
Vainqueur,
Howard Jones,
Bill Near,
The Pop Group,
The Divine Comedy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Gerry Rafferty,
Stockholm Monsters,
Matthew Halsall,
The Misunderstood,
Underground Resistance,
Eric Copeland,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Tomorrow,
The Knickerbockers,
Sound Behaviour,
Gang of Four,
The Count Five,
Avey Tare,
Rekid,
The Flesh Eaters,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Max Romeo, Max Romeo, Max Romeo, Max Romeo.
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.