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 Niger and from Hong Kong.
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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 AZ to the rap 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 Todd Terry. All the underground hits.
All Wings tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sex Pistols 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Beau Brummels record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gerry Rafferty,
The Smoke,
Byron Stingily,
Aswad,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Cameo,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Ken Boothe,
Gichy Dan,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Monochrome Set,
Charles Mingus,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Agitation Free,
Saccharine Trust,
the Soft Cell,
Scrapy,
MC5,
LL Cool J,
Soft Machine,
Joey Negro,
Icehouse,
Silicon Teens,
Quantec,
Dennis Brown,
Chris Corsano,
Minnie Riperton,
Harmonia,
The Trojans,
Matthew Halsall,
Brand Nubian,
Public Image Ltd.,
Harpers Bizarre,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Harry Pussy,
Drexciya,
Erasure,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Neil Young,
Spoonie Gee,
Bluetip,
Alphaville,
The Last Poets,
Bronski Beat,
Darondo,
Wally Richardson,
Graham Central Station,
The Happenings,
Gong,
Lebanon Hanover,
Pere Ubu,
EPMD,
The Golliwogs,
Pagans,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Moleskins,
Rites of Spring,
The Skatalites,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Swans,
The Remains,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.