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 Georgia and from Philadelphia.
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 1966 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Lyon.
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 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 Technova to the grime 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 Franke. All the underground hits.
All Television tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Electric Prunes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a OOIOO record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Country Teasers,
T. Rex,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
U.S. Maple,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Marshall Jefferson,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Monks,
Hoover,
Marmalade,
The Birthday Party,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Wake,
Crispian St. Peters,
F. McDonald,
Television,
Lou Christie,
Scrapy,
Jerry's Kids,
Juan Atkins,
Oneida,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Smog,
The Five Americans,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Trojans,
Derrick May,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Rekid,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Altered Images,
The Victims,
Sam Rivers,
The New Christs,
Public Image Ltd.,
Cluster,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Jawbox,
Tropical Tobacco,
Wally Richardson,
Eric Dolphy,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Connie Case,
The Fugs,
10cc,
K-Klass,
Visage,
Glenn Branca,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Kinks,
The Busters,
ABBA,
Deakin,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Gories,
Can,
Stiv Bators,
Monks,
Pussy Galore,
Saccharine Trust,
Symarip,
Lucky Dragons, Lucky Dragons, Lucky Dragons, Lucky Dragons.
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.