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 Kiribati and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Motorama to the techno 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 Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo. All the underground hits.
All Porter Ricks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Altered Images 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Von Mondo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
T.S.O.L.,
Danielle Patucci,
Sparks,
Skaos,
The Flesh Eaters,
Von Mondo,
Procol Harum,
Masters at Work,
Banda Bassotti,
10cc,
Johnny Osbourne,
Warren Ellis,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Gang Green,
Fela Kuti,
Pylon,
Babytalk,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Dave Gahan,
Hardrive,
Easy Going,
Colin Newman,
Chrome,
Fad Gadget,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Don Cherry,
Yusef Lateef,
Joy Division,
The Real Kids,
the Human League,
Albert Ayler,
Second Layer,
Pagans,
Radiohead,
OOIOO,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Johnny Clarke,
Desert Stars,
Lucky Dragons,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Mantronix,
Roxy Music,
Shoche,
Cecil Taylor,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Grauzone,
Nirvana,
the Soft Cell,
Sonny Sharrock,
Ohio Players,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Walker Brothers,
Kool Moe Dee,
Piero Umiliani,
Tropical Tobacco,
Fluxion,
Make Up,
Throbbing Gristle,
Japan,
Maurizio,
The Misunderstood, The Misunderstood, The Misunderstood, The Misunderstood.
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.