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 Bhutan 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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Bill Wells to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Man Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Sandy B tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Guru Guru record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 mellotron and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Thee Headcoats record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Section 25,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Judy Mowatt,
Cluster,
Thee Headcoats,
Johnny Clarke,
The Vogues,
the Fania All-Stars,
Yusef Lateef,
Barrington Levy,
Vladislav Delay,
Kaleidoscope,
Mark Hollis,
Letta Mbulu,
Hoover,
Suicide,
Maurizio,
Gong,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Velvet Underground,
The Fortunes,
Pantaleimon,
Soulsonic Force,
Warsaw,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Janne Schatter,
One Last Wish,
Lalann,
Newcleus,
Urselle,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
ABC,
Black Sheep,
JFA,
The Martian,
Al Stewart,
Kerrie Biddell,
Gang Starr,
Joe Finger,
The Grass Roots,
T.S.O.L.,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Ponytail,
a-ha,
Visage,
The Stooges,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Das Ding,
Wire,
FM Einheit,
The Victims,
Eli Mardock,
Anakelly,
The Saints,
The Leaves,
The Gun Club,
Jacob Miller,
Liliput,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
In Retrospect,
The Kinks,
Eric Copeland,
Fear, Fear, Fear, Fear.
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.