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 Syria and from Paris.
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 1966 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 güiro 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 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Tim Buckley. All the underground hits.
All Fatback Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every L. Decosne 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
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 Raincoats record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Radiopuhelimet,
Livin' Joy,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Camberwell Now,
Radiohead,
Kerrie Biddell,
Silicon Teens,
The Flesh Eaters,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Searchers,
Dave Gahan,
Parry Music,
Skaos,
Johnny Clarke,
Underground Resistance,
Pierre Henry,
The Mojo Men,
a-ha,
Cluster,
the Slits,
Leonard Cohen,
The Gap Band,
Barrington Levy,
the Germs,
The Monks,
Terry Callier,
The Seeds,
Idris Muhammad,
Big Daddy Kane,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
John Lydon,
Bronski Beat,
Jandek,
Rakim,
DNA,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
E-Dancer,
F. McDonald,
K-Klass,
Young Marble Giants,
Eddi Front,
Organ,
Blake Baxter,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Flash Fearless,
Moebius,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Toni Rubio,
Janne Schatter,
Second Layer,
Chris & Cosey,
Tomorrow,
Harpers Bizarre,
Grey Daturas,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar.
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.