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 Mongolia and from Lagos.
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 1964 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 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 Groovy Waters to the punk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Parry Music. All the underground hits.
All Mad Mike tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every De La Soul & Jungle Brothers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jeff Lynne record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin 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?
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Panda Bear,
Josef K,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Public Image Ltd.,
Funkadelic,
Piero Umiliani,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Tom Boy,
Brick,
Deakin,
The Skatalites,
Supertramp,
The Techniques,
Fluxion,
Goldenarms,
Fear,
Altered Images,
Jacob Miller,
Max Romeo,
Jeff Mills,
Parry Music,
Flamin' Groovies,
Oneida,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Echospace,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Trojans,
Kas Product,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Neil Young,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Lungfish,
The Music Machine,
48th St. Collective,
Qualms,
Minor Threat,
Janne Schatter,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
OOIOO,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Ken Boothe,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Rufus Thomas,
Todd Rundgren,
Warren Ellis,
Scrapy,
The United States of America,
The Birthday Party,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Mars,
Babytalk,
The Divine Comedy,
Joey Negro,
Pagans,
Swell Maps,
PIL,
The Searchers,
LL Cool J, LL Cool J, LL Cool J, LL Cool J.
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.