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 Bulgaria and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Man Eating Sloth to the funk 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 Nils Olav. All the underground hits.
All John Coltrane tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Doors 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eve St. Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Amon Düül,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Boz Scaggs,
The Victims,
Country Teasers,
Camberwell Now,
Roger Hodgson,
Unwound,
Ten City,
Stockholm Monsters,
Half Japanese,
Mo-Dettes,
the Normal,
Rhythm & Sound,
Scrapy,
Alison Limerick,
Eric B and Rakim,
Rakim,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
A Certain Ratio,
Joensuu 1685,
Bill Near,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Tommy Roe,
Bad Manners,
Gabor Szabo,
Iggy Pop,
The Vogues,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Pop Group,
Mary Jane Girls,
Joyce Sims,
Funkadelic,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Fear,
New York Dolls,
Hasil Adkins,
Bang On A Can,
Goldenarms,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
DNA,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Slackers,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Chris Corsano,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Slick Rick,
The Alarm Clocks,
Das Ding,
The Smiths,
China Crisis,
Porter Ricks,
cv313,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
June of 44,
X-Ray Spex,
Organ,
Royal Trux,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The New Christs,
Joy Division,
New Order, New Order, New Order, New Order.
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.