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 Guatemala and from Toronto.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Leaves to the grime 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 Strawberry Alarm Clock. All the underground hits.
All Monolake tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Cowsills 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 an oboe and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
JFA,
Gregory Isaacs,
Ultravox,
Banda Bassotti,
Anakelly,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Franke,
David Bowie,
Aaron Thompson,
Gabor Szabo,
Marc Almond,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Alice Coltrane,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Magazine,
Moss Icon,
Stiv Bators,
Panda Bear,
Ice-T,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Count Five,
Half Japanese,
Brass Construction,
Barrington Levy,
John Coltrane,
Public Enemy,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Minny Pops,
DJ Style,
Erykah Badu,
B.T. Express,
Anthony Braxton,
U.S. Maple,
The Pop Group,
Sarah Menescal,
Crispy Ambulance,
Ohio Players,
Ossler,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Cymande,
Stockholm Monsters,
Jacques Brel,
Hasil Adkins,
Supertramp,
Country Teasers,
The Index,
Whodini,
Marmalade,
Ken Boothe,
Amon Düül,
Deepchord,
Nick Fraelich,
Sound Behaviour,
John Holt,
Roger Hodgson,
Bob Dylan,
Tomorrow,
Tres Demented,
Severed Heads,
Lightning Bolt,
Brick, Brick, Brick, Brick.
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.