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 Sierra Leone and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Archie Shepp to the disco kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Jandek. All the underground hits.
All Jesper Dahlbäck tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Be Bop Deluxe 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yellowson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gang Starr,
Alison Limerick,
D'Angelo,
Big Daddy Kane,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Alarm Clocks,
Electric Light Orchestra,
John Coltrane,
Michelle Simonal,
Boredoms,
Interpol,
Chris & Cosey,
Scan 7,
Man Eating Sloth,
X-102,
Public Enemy,
Infiniti,
Deakin,
Sparks,
Dead Boys,
Adolescents,
Harpers Bizarre,
Todd Rundgren,
Joensuu 1685,
Eric Dolphy,
Roger Hodgson,
Agent Orange,
Mandrill,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
A Certain Ratio,
Rekid,
Delon & Dalcan,
Sex Pistols,
Dawn Penn,
The Beau Brummels,
Reuben Wilson,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Magma,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
X-Ray Spex,
The Gladiators,
Barrington Levy,
Pantaleimon,
Max Romeo,
Ten City,
Inner City,
R.M.O.,
PIL,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Man Parrish,
Absolute Body Control,
Urselle,
Panda Bear,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Skaos,
The Buckinghams,
Nik Kershaw,
The Martian,
Can,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Jandek, Jandek, Jandek, Jandek.
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.