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 Philippines and from Houston.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the 808 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 Theoretical Girls to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bootsy's Rubber Band. All the underground hits.
All Yazoo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a R.M.O. record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Adolescents,
Mad Mike,
Bauhaus,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Nas,
Tim Buckley,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Glenn Branca,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The Dead C,
Leonard Cohen,
The Five Americans,
Inner City,
Steve Hackett,
The Fuzztones,
The Slits,
Lightning Bolt,
the Soft Cell,
Audionom,
New Order,
Marvin Gaye,
Sixth Finger,
Faust,
Grauzone,
The Birthday Party,
Warren Ellis,
Freddie Wadling,
Tommy Roe,
John Holt,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Associates,
Funky Four + One,
DJ Sneak,
The Blackbyrds,
Ronan,
Das Ding,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Saints,
Cybotron,
ABC,
Nick Fraelich,
Sarah Menescal,
Don Cherry,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Dennis Brown,
The Young Rascals,
The Velvet Underground,
Joe Finger,
Sex Pistols,
Johnny Clarke,
Magma,
Derrick May,
Black Moon,
Guru Guru,
Y Pants,
Roxette,
John Coltrane,
Joyce Sims,
Pierre Henry,
Man Parrish,
John Foxx,
Sun City Girls, Sun City Girls, Sun City Girls, Sun City Girls.
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.