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 Djibouti and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Taipei.
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 theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Drive Like Jehu to the jazz kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Chrome. All the underground hits.
All Crispy Ambulance tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every a-ha record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Boogie Down Productions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
London Community Gospel Choir,
Blossom Toes,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Parry Music,
Wasted Youth,
Basic Channel,
Make Up,
Amon Düül,
Magma,
Public Image Ltd.,
Black Pus,
Ludus,
Television Personalities,
Charles Mingus,
Sonic Youth,
Chrome,
Henry Cow,
Hot Snakes,
the Soft Cell,
Smog,
Lakeside,
Arcadia,
Sex Pistols,
Bad Manners,
Ronan,
U.S. Maple,
Toni Rubio,
Visage,
Brass Construction,
The Velvet Underground,
Prince Buster,
Letta Mbulu,
Wally Richardson,
Cybotron,
Eve St. Jones,
The Fire Engines,
E-Dancer,
DJ Style,
Leonard Cohen,
Dave Gahan,
Mark Hollis,
Amon Düül II,
Pierre Henry,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Donald Byrd,
The Doobie Brothers,
Joy Division,
Jacques Brel,
Electric Prunes,
Chris & Cosey,
John Coltrane,
Joe Smooth,
T.S.O.L.,
Heaven 17,
Lou Christie,
Eric Copeland,
Fat Boys,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Cymande,
The Real Kids,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
H. Thieme, H. Thieme, H. Thieme, H. Thieme.
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.