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 Yemen and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 David Bowie 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 Terrestrial Tones to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 The Royal Family And The Poor. All the underground hits.
All Ajijia Myrayebe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Stooges record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 clarinet and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Erykah Badu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Public Image Ltd.,
Lalo Schifrin,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Trojans,
Chris Corsano,
Patti Smith,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Slackers,
Bill Wells,
The Smiths,
Carl Craig,
Mission of Burma,
the Association,
The Cure,
Brand Nubian,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Inner City,
This Heat,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Wasted Youth,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Goldenarms,
Joensuu 1685,
Buzzcocks,
Hardrive,
The Move,
Todd Rundgren,
Crooked Eye,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Yaz,
Tim Buckley,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Warren Ellis,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Spoonie Gee,
Curtis Mayfield,
Lindisfarne,
The Index,
Pet Shop Boys,
Parry Music,
Harmonia,
Steve Hackett,
Vainqueur,
Howard Jones,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Eric Copeland,
Alice Coltrane,
Frankie Knuckles,
Harpers Bizarre,
Chrome,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Eve St. Jones,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Ludus,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Blancmange,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Standells,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Alison Limerick,
Eden Ahbez,
David McCallum, David McCallum, David McCallum, David McCallum.
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.