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 Iran and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Electric Prunes to the techno kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Man Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Todd Terry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scion record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lou Christie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
R.M.O.,
Rod Modell,
Deepchord,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Remains,
Pierre Henry,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
X-Ray Spex,
Stetsasonic,
Colin Newman,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Rufus Thomas,
Lindisfarne,
PIL,
Marmalade,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Funky Four + One,
Marvin Gaye,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Electric Prunes,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Wally Richardson,
Bobby Sherman,
Man Parrish,
The Buckinghams,
Blancmange,
The Seeds,
The Misunderstood,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Chrome,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Warsaw,
The Standells,
The Residents,
Banda Bassotti,
The Invisible,
Joensuu 1685,
Barbara Tucker,
Gong,
OOIOO,
Swell Maps,
The Music Machine,
Motorama,
The Mojo Men,
Bluetip,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bootsy Collins,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Radio Birdman,
Rakim,
Gregory Isaacs,
Royal Trux,
Pantytec,
Eli Mardock,
Harry Pussy,
Lee Hazlewood,
Grauzone,
Flipper,
Stereo Dub,
The Human League,
a-ha,
Flash Fearless,
Bob Dylan,
Kerrie Biddell,
Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan.
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.