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 Venezuela and from Toronto.
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 1962 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Sly & The Family Stone to the disco kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Nas. All the underground hits.
All Eyeless In Gaza tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Essential Logic record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rod Modell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Can,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Intrusion,
Avey Tare,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Procol Harum,
Drive Like Jehu,
the Slits,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Johnny Osbourne,
Aswad,
The Monks,
R.M.O.,
the Germs,
Youth Brigade,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Pierre Henry,
Juan Atkins,
Nick Fraelich,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Brothers Johnson,
The Fall,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Masters at Work,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Divine Comedy,
Shoche,
Donny Hathaway,
Hardrive,
The Blackbyrds,
Ultra Naté,
The Smiths,
Boz Scaggs,
The Fire Engines,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
FM Einheit,
Deakin,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Hot Snakes,
Jawbox,
X-101,
Harry Pussy,
Fear,
The Doors,
The Dave Clark Five,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Model 500,
New York Dolls,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Mantronix,
The Busters,
Derrick May,
Aural Exciters,
The Real Kids,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Fugs,
Pussy Galore,
The United States of America,
Surgeon, Surgeon, Surgeon, Surgeon.
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.