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 Niger and from Milan.
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 1966 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 guitar 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 Cecil Taylor to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Knickerbockers. All the underground hits.
All Panda Bear tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Names 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Copeland record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar 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?
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Crash Course in Science,
In Retrospect,
The Moleskins,
Subhumans,
Jandek,
The Skatalites,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Second Layer,
EPMD,
Whodini,
Hoover,
Prince Buster,
Panda Bear,
Average White Band,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Trumans Water,
The Shadows of Knight,
Sun Ra,
Royal Trux,
Ultimate Spinach,
Country Teasers,
The Move,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Crooked Eye,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Todd Terry,
Faraquet,
Vainqueur,
Rod Modell,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Gang Green,
Terrestrial Tones,
Smog,
Wally Richardson,
The Blues Magoos,
Barbara Tucker,
Suburban Knight,
Gregory Isaacs,
KRS-One,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Motions,
Gang Gang Dance,
Loose Ends,
Black Bananas,
The Divine Comedy,
Porter Ricks,
Matthew Halsall,
Livin' Joy,
Aaron Thompson,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Seeds,
Michelle Simonal,
Bauhaus,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Glenn Branca,
Boz Scaggs,
a-ha, a-ha, a-ha, a-ha.
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.