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 Uganda and from Mumbai.
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 1969 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 The Remains to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 John Foxx. All the underground hits.
All Warsaw 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 funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Osbourne record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Sound,
Barrington Levy,
Jandek,
Curtis Mayfield,
KRS-One,
Lucky Dragons,
Kayak,
Anthony Braxton,
Pylon,
Zero Boys,
Stetsasonic,
Colin Newman,
The Birthday Party,
Can,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Leonard Cohen,
The Cosmic Jokers,
LL Cool J,
Main Source,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Evens,
Minny Pops,
Nirvana,
Gang Gang Dance,
Stiv Bators,
Royal Trux,
New Order,
Porter Ricks,
The Cure,
Wally Richardson,
Reuben Wilson,
Tomorrow,
Lou Christie,
The Cowsills,
Joey Negro,
Fugazi,
The Fortunes,
The Invisible,
Aural Exciters,
Delon & Dalcan,
Crime,
the Soft Cell,
Yazoo,
June of 44,
The Moody Blues,
Ronan,
The Skatalites,
Josef K,
Skriet,
Scion,
Nico,
Franke,
Bobby Womack,
Eden Ahbez,
Unwound,
Gang Green,
The Fugs,
L. Decosne,
Essential Logic,
Todd Rundgren,
The Zeros,
Tim Buckley,
The Fall, The Fall, The Fall, The Fall.
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.