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 Uganda 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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Wolf Eyes to the rock 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 Urselle. All the underground hits.
All Freddie Wadling tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Louis and Bebe Barron 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Warren Ellis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Wake,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Henry Cow,
The Red Krayola,
The Velvet Underground,
Pole,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Hardrive,
Slave,
Matthew Halsall,
Byron Stingily,
The Grass Roots,
Qualms,
Camouflage,
Index,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Fad Gadget,
F. McDonald,
Radio Birdman,
Joensuu 1685,
Negative Approach,
The Last Poets,
The Seeds,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Lyres,
The Remains,
Los Fastidios,
Kerrie Biddell,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Fear,
John Cale,
Television Personalities,
Gang Green,
Mr. Review,
R.M.O.,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Dark Day,
H. Thieme,
Yaz,
The Cramps,
Don Cherry,
Desert Stars,
X-Ray Spex,
The Fall,
The Dead C,
Josef K,
Sex Pistols,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Subhumans,
B.T. Express,
the Normal,
The Happenings,
Dave Gahan,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Index,
Little Man,
Reuben Wilson,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Fugs, The Fugs, The Fugs, The Fugs.
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.