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 Saudi Arabia and from Johannesburg.
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 1963 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 The Cowsills to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Reagan Youth. All the underground hits.
All DJ Sneak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Model 500 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kool G Rap & DJ Polo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Standells,
Bob Dylan,
Chrome,
The Doors,
Zero Boys,
Ultravox,
Parry Music,
Derrick Morgan,
Camberwell Now,
Mary Jane Girls,
Faraquet,
Oneida,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Toni Rubio,
B.T. Express,
Scan 7,
Q and Not U,
Moby Grape,
Agent Orange,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Harry Pussy,
Lyres,
The Residents,
Neu!,
Black Pus,
John Cale,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Pharoah Sanders,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Aswad,
Eli Mardock,
Television,
Ponytail,
The Barracudas,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Grass Roots,
Swell Maps,
Cal Tjader,
Marvin Gaye,
Moebius,
Leonard Cohen,
Public Enemy,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Intrusion,
Absolute Body Control,
The Martian,
Guru Guru,
Television Personalities,
Bad Manners,
The Remains,
Whodini,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Wally Richardson,
Andrew Hill,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Sandy B,
Unrelated Segments,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Gladiators,
The Detroit Cobras,
Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter, Janne Schatter.
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.