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 Nigeria and from Tokyo.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 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 Sex Pistols to the rap 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 Rhythm & Sound. All the underground hits.
All Todd Rundgren tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 an oboe and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Vogues record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Swans,
Television,
Jeff Lynne,
Wally Richardson,
the Fania All-Stars,
Eden Ahbez,
Amazonics,
Anakelly,
Marine Girls,
Sam Rivers,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
F. McDonald,
Mars,
Angry Samoans,
Panda Bear,
Gong,
The Music Machine,
Minny Pops,
Tomorrow,
Black Flag,
Janne Schatter,
Malaria!,
Matthew Bourne,
Girls At Our Best!,
The Remains,
The Techniques,
Radiopuhelimet,
Cecil Taylor,
the Germs,
Suburban Knight,
The Doobie Brothers,
Cybotron,
Nation of Ulysses,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Agent Orange,
Arcadia,
Lindisfarne,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Vainqueur,
La Düsseldorf,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Marmalade,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Sister Nancy,
Con Funk Shun,
Kenny Larkin,
Michelle Simonal,
Pole,
Marvin Gaye,
The Blackbyrds,
New York Dolls,
Leonard Cohen,
Echospace,
T. Rex,
The Pop Group,
Warren Ellis,
June of 44,
Brass Construction,
Yazoo,
The Flesh Eaters,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Standells, The Standells, The Standells, The Standells.
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.