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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Spokane.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the sitar 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 Au Pairs to the grunge kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 The Sisters of Mercy. All the underground hits.
All Anthony Braxton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Monks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 an arpeggiator and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Selector Dub Narcotic record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe 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?
Chris Corsano,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Sam Rivers,
Public Image Ltd.,
Don Cherry,
Accadde A,
CMW,
The Grass Roots,
Gang Gang Dance,
a-ha,
Porter Ricks,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Todd Rundgren,
Newcleus,
Scott Walker,
The Golliwogs,
Juan Atkins,
Letta Mbulu,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
the Fania All-Stars,
Saccharine Trust,
Slick Rick,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Livin' Joy,
Charles Mingus,
the Soft Cell,
Pharoah Sanders,
Avey Tare,
Ultravox,
Y Pants,
Ludus,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Rosa Yemen,
Brand Nubian,
Slave,
Los Fastidios,
48th St. Collective,
Tears for Fears,
Tim Buckley,
Fugazi,
Darondo,
Minnie Riperton,
Essential Logic,
Wings,
Jawbox,
Josef K,
Thee Headcoats,
Al Stewart,
Fear,
B.T. Express,
Idris Muhammad,
Motorama,
Ultra Naté,
Cheater Slicks,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Johnny Osbourne,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Tom Boy,
The Fugs,
Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band.
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.