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 Guinea and from Spokane.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Accra.
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 theremin 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 the Sonics to the techno kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Pulsallama. All the underground hits.
All The Golliwogs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Connie Case record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Procol Harum record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Public Image Ltd.,
Pylon,
the Slits,
Ultra Naté,
Anakelly,
UT,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Sparks,
Scott Walker,
The Seeds,
Tomorrow,
The Stooges,
Flamin' Groovies,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lindisfarne,
Eli Mardock,
The Evens,
Don Cherry,
Henry Cow,
Rhythm & Sound,
Toni Rubio,
The Real Kids,
John Cale,
Barry Ungar,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Babytalk,
Jimmy McGriff,
Sister Nancy,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Bluetip,
Wasted Youth,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Dead C,
Oblivians,
Freddie Wadling,
Q65,
The Fugs,
Lucky Dragons,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Gladiators,
Jeff Mills,
Groovy Waters,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Electric Prunes,
Johnny Clarke,
Eric Copeland,
The Techniques,
Spoonie Gee,
Agitation Free,
Aloha Tigers,
Gang of Four,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Toasters,
New York Dolls,
Zero Boys,
Audionom,
Pulsallama,
Quando Quango,
Oneida,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Moody Blues, The Moody Blues, The Moody Blues, The Moody Blues.
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.