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 Croatia and from Houston.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Lindisfarne to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan. All the underground hits.
All Nils Olav tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Thee Headcoats record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Oneida record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Supertramp,
Barrington Levy,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Japan,
Derrick May,
Rod Modell,
Pere Ubu,
The Names,
Kool Moe Dee,
Janne Schatter,
H. Thieme,
The Golliwogs,
Grey Daturas,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Selecter,
Morten Harket,
Y Pants,
LL Cool J,
Glenn Branca,
Mars,
Marc Almond,
The Mojo Men,
Frankie Knuckles,
Soft Cell,
Johnny Osbourne,
Delta 5,
Mission of Burma,
ABBA,
Ludus,
Hasil Adkins,
KRS-One,
Gastr Del Sol,
Jawbox,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Wolf Eyes,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
F. McDonald,
Joe Smooth,
Joe Finger,
Joensuu 1685,
Sarah Menescal,
Nick Fraelich,
Icehouse,
Grauzone,
Throbbing Gristle,
Charles Mingus,
Yusef Lateef,
The Count Five,
Nas,
EPMD,
Negative Approach,
the Normal,
Alton Ellis,
Soft Machine,
The Busters,
The Detroit Cobras,
Youth Brigade,
the Swans,
The Associates,
Clear Light,
Ronan, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.
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.