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 Lesotho and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 arpeggiator 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 Kaleidoscope to the dance kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Cymande. All the underground hits.
All Radiopuhelimet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Shuggie Otis 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 rhodes and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Chocolate Watch Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Boz Scaggs,
Lebanon Hanover,
Second Layer,
Juan Atkins,
A Certain Ratio,
Y Pants,
Robert Hood,
Judy Mowatt,
The Selecter,
Agent Orange,
K-Klass,
Kool Moe Dee,
Al Stewart,
Suburban Knight,
Ronnie Foster,
Aaron Thompson,
Unwound,
Malaria!,
Crispy Ambulance,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Newcleus,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Fuzztones,
Joy Division,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Royal Trux,
The Black Dice,
Alphaville,
Parry Music,
Depeche Mode,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Rod Modell,
Arcadia,
T. Rex,
David Axelrod,
Moby Grape,
Roxette,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Chris & Cosey,
F. McDonald,
48th St. Collective,
Harpers Bizarre,
Yaz,
ABC,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Bang On A Can,
Soul Sonic Force,
Mo-Dettes,
Terry Callier,
Japan,
Kerri Chandler,
The Fugs,
Derrick May,
Don Cherry,
Skriet,
Tres Demented,
Grandmaster Flash,
Index,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Drexciya,
Massinfluence,
Johnny Clarke,
Swans, Swans, Swans, Swans.
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.