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 Rwanda and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Captain Beefheart 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 Tropical Tobacco to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 X-Ray Spex. All the underground hits.
All Max Romeo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Camouflage 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Schoolly D record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare,
B.T. Express,
The Leaves,
Wasted Youth,
The Gladiators,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Franke,
The Durutti Column,
Pere Ubu,
John Coltrane,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Minny Pops,
Lou Reed,
Kenny Larkin,
June of 44,
Althea and Donna,
E-Dancer,
Black Sheep,
KRS-One,
Rod Modell,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Searchers,
Gang of Four,
Piero Umiliani,
In Retrospect,
Zapp,
The Associates,
The Martian,
The Shadows of Knight,
Nico,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
The Buckinghams,
Tom Boy,
Popol Vuh,
Soulsonic Force,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Sun Ra,
Rapeman,
The Mummies,
The Count Five,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Peter and Kerry,
Reagan Youth,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Joe Finger,
The Raincoats,
Cluster,
The Misunderstood,
Jawbox,
Marc Almond,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Henry Cow,
Black Bananas,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Joyce Sims,
Los Fastidios,
Ituana,
Cecil Taylor,
Lalo Schifrin,
Nick Fraelich,
Agitation Free,
John Lydon,
Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection, Rotary Connection.
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.