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 Papua New Guinea and from Paris.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the snare 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 The Real Kids to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Laurel Aitken. All the underground hits.
All The Sisters of Mercy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Letta Mbulu 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a B.T. Express record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Byron Stingily,
Yellowson,
Quadrant,
Joey Negro,
Alphaville,
The Raincoats,
D'Angelo,
Hot Snakes,
Anthony Braxton,
The Martian,
The Gun Club,
Bill Near,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Grey Daturas,
Soul II Soul,
Gerry Rafferty,
Steve Hackett,
Erykah Badu,
Reagan Youth,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Henry Cow,
Sarah Menescal,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Roy Ayers,
Lucky Dragons,
Average White Band,
The Residents,
Black Pus,
Funky Four + One,
Agent Orange,
The Vogues,
Drexciya,
Gabor Szabo,
Slave,
Excepter,
Sixth Finger,
Delon & Dalcan,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Stetsasonic,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Knickerbockers,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Moby Grape,
Outsiders,
Delta 5,
Swell Maps,
Cecil Taylor,
Black Moon,
Spoonie Gee,
Fluxion,
Radiohead,
The Busters,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Marshall Jefferson,
Eric Copeland,
Big Daddy Kane,
Davy DMX,
Marcia Griffiths,
Bad Manners,
Ultra Naté,
The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams, The Buckinghams.
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.