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 Mexico and from Bremen.
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 1969 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 chamberlin 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 Pharoah Sanders to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Camouflage. All the underground hits.
All Rod Modell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barry Ungar 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Birthday Party record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Sonics,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Radiohead,
The Shadows of Knight,
Bizarre Inc.,
Pere Ubu,
John Coltrane,
These Immortal Souls,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Big Daddy Kane,
Public Image Ltd.,
Skarface,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Hashim,
New York Dolls,
Zapp,
Audionom,
10cc,
Ludus,
Matthew Halsall,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Janne Schatter,
Juan Atkins,
Lucky Dragons,
Chris & Cosey,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Mummies,
Flamin' Groovies,
Jeff Mills,
Bronski Beat,
Lightning Bolt,
Franke,
Moss Icon,
Reuben Wilson,
Silicon Teens,
The Beau Brummels,
The Standells,
Erasure,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Wolf Eyes,
The Kinks,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Barry Ungar,
Minnie Riperton,
Throbbing Gristle,
MC5,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Theoretical Girls,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Jacques Brel,
the Human League,
Harpers Bizarre,
OOIOO,
Pierre Henry,
The Blues Magoos,
Steve Hackett,
Bootsy Collins,
Traffic Nightmare,
Siglo XX,
June Days,
The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke.
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.