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 Spokane.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the güiro 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 Bad Manners to the rap 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 Spandau Ballet. All the underground hits.
All The Sonics tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Graham Central Station 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Unrelated Segments record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kevin Saunderson,
Fela Kuti,
The Kinks,
Goldenarms,
Big Daddy Kane,
Deepchord,
DJ Style,
Quadrant,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
La Düsseldorf,
Circle Jerks,
Chris Corsano,
The Divine Comedy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Public Image Ltd.,
Pharoah Sanders,
EPMD,
The Shadows of Knight,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Simply Red,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Fugs,
Brand Nubian,
Pere Ubu,
Q65,
The Stooges,
Cal Tjader,
Delta 5,
F. McDonald,
The Monks,
In Retrospect,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Erasure,
Bad Manners,
Idris Muhammad,
Make Up,
Suburban Knight,
Eric B and Rakim,
H. Thieme,
Essential Logic,
Minnie Riperton,
Jacob Miller,
Lucky Dragons,
Don Cherry,
The Residents,
Infiniti,
The Victims,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Rod Modell,
Ken Boothe,
Warren Ellis,
The Saints,
Shuggie Otis,
Bronski Beat,
Vainqueur,
Pantaleimon,
Easy Going,
Dawn Penn,
The Cramps,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Black Dice,
Ludus,
Peter and Kerry,
Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now.
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.