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 Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1963 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 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 U.S. Maple to the grime 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 The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. All the underground hits.
All James White and The Blacks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chrome record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rhythim Is Rhythim record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Harpers Bizarre,
Saccharine Trust,
Second Layer,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
John Coltrane,
Eden Ahbez,
The Monks,
The Monochrome Set,
B.T. Express,
KRS-One,
The J.B.'s,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Curtis Mayfield,
Scratch Acid,
Audionom,
One Last Wish,
Ken Boothe,
Excepter,
Smog,
LL Cool J,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Dave Gahan,
Massinfluence,
The Birthday Party,
Minny Pops,
The Move,
Tropical Tobacco,
Gichy Dan,
Moss Icon,
Gastr Del Sol,
Michelle Simonal,
Warren Ellis,
Pagans,
Pylon,
ABBA,
Jeff Lynne,
The Modern Lovers,
The Skatalites,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Sonny Sharrock,
Yusef Lateef,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
This Heat,
Sunsets and Hearts,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Tim Buckley,
Jawbox,
Minutemen,
In Retrospect,
Quantec,
La Düsseldorf,
Half Japanese,
Jacques Brel,
Pierre Henry,
Roger Hodgson,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Todd Terry,
T.S.O.L.,
Stereo Dub,
Monolake,
Outsiders,
The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke.
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.