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 Jamaica 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 1969 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Joey Negro to the punk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Fort Wilson Riot. All the underground hits.
All The Martian tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kango’s Stein Massive record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Delon & Dalcan,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Livin' Joy,
David Axelrod,
Mary Jane Girls,
Sex Pistols,
Electric Prunes,
Mars,
Guru Guru,
Patti Smith,
Gang Gang Dance,
Public Image Ltd.,
Joyce Sims,
Eric Dolphy,
the Slits,
Accadde A,
Davy DMX,
Joy Division,
Iggy Pop,
Audionom,
Junior Murvin,
Hot Snakes,
The Smoke,
The Mummies,
The Martian,
The Saints,
The Young Rascals,
The Mojo Men,
Donny Hathaway,
Darondo,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Wake,
Hardrive,
The Stooges,
Essential Logic,
Sun Ra,
Sister Nancy,
Nirvana,
Prince Buster,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Man Eating Sloth,
Flash Fearless,
Gastr Del Sol,
Lyres,
Tropical Tobacco,
Throbbing Gristle,
Shuggie Otis,
One Last Wish,
Bobby Womack,
Infiniti,
Malaria!,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Black Bananas,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Remains,
Quando Quango,
Kas Product,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Derrick Morgan,
Buzzcocks,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.