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 Micronesia and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 spring reverb 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 Ash Ra Tempel to the punk 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 Sarah Menescal. All the underground hits.
All Sonic Youth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Talk Talk record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tubeway Army record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Searchers,
Los Fastidios,
Symarip,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Divine Comedy,
Loose Ends,
T.S.O.L.,
Crispian St. Peters,
Soft Cell,
The Last Poets,
Lungfish,
The Grass Roots,
Jeru the Damaja,
Leonard Cohen,
Q and Not U,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Gregory Isaacs,
Minor Threat,
Barbara Tucker,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Ornette Coleman,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Cure,
D'Angelo,
Yusef Lateef,
U.S. Maple,
Chrome,
Delta 5,
Alice Coltrane,
a-ha,
Hasil Adkins,
The Gun Club,
Kerri Chandler,
The United States of America,
Darondo,
Fluxion,
The Sonics,
Curtis Mayfield,
Gabor Szabo,
The Litter,
The Zeros,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Cal Tjader,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
David Axelrod,
Subhumans,
Sonny Sharrock,
Graham Central Station,
ABBA,
Agitation Free,
Cecil Taylor,
B.T. Express,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Buzzcocks,
Brick,
Spandau Ballet,
Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies.
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.