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 Antigua and from Mumbai.
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 1968 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the theremin 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 Rosa Yemen 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 Gerry Rafferty. All the underground hits.
All Spandau Ballet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Juan Atkins record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ituana record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soul II Soul,
10cc,
Chrome,
Marshall Jefferson,
A Certain Ratio,
Matthew Bourne,
The Motions,
John Holt,
Nick Fraelich,
LL Cool J,
Gang of Four,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Todd Terry,
Suburban Knight,
Qualms,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Golliwogs,
Electric Prunes,
The Sound,
Anthony Braxton,
B.T. Express,
David Axelrod,
Essential Logic,
Ohio Players,
Morten Harket,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Wake,
Sexual Harrassment,
Reuben Wilson,
Stereo Dub,
Dark Day,
Stockholm Monsters,
Alison Limerick,
The Tremeloes,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bill Near,
The Five Americans,
Rosa Yemen,
Rufus Thomas,
Man Eating Sloth,
The American Breed,
Parry Music,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Wasted Youth,
Yusef Lateef,
Quadrant,
Babytalk,
The Velvet Underground,
Peter and Kerry,
The Names,
Marmalade,
Aural Exciters,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Cluster,
Youth Brigade,
Unwound,
Hasil Adkins,
Davy DMX,
Josef K,
Bill Wells,
Second Layer,
Ronnie Foster, Ronnie Foster, Ronnie Foster, Ronnie Foster.
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.