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 Guatemala and from Sao Paulo.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 mellotron 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 Sun City Girls to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Cowsills. All the underground hits.
All Gang Starr tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Techniques record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scratch Acid record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mandrill,
The Shadows of Knight,
Alphaville,
Outsiders,
Rod Modell,
Unwound,
Model 500,
Ken Boothe,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Modern Lovers,
Pharoah Sanders,
Terrestrial Tones,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
B.T. Express,
Joe Finger,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Television Personalities,
The Velvet Underground,
K-Klass,
Adolescents,
Aaron Thompson,
The Move,
Joy Division,
The Misunderstood,
Arcadia,
Patti Smith,
The Sonics,
Main Source,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Anakelly,
Lungfish,
The Fugs,
Intrusion,
the Swans,
The United States of America,
Pulsallama,
Negative Approach,
Aswad,
X-102,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Byron Stingily,
Jeff Mills,
The Birthday Party,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Electric Prunes,
The Stooges,
In Retrospect,
Vladislav Delay,
Moby Grape,
Wolf Eyes,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
T. Rex,
Pierre Henry,
Iggy Pop,
Royal Trux,
The Mummies,
Parry Music,
Shoche,
Infiniti,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Bobby Byrd,
Joensuu 1685,
Depeche Mode,
Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins.
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.