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 Namibia and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1969 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Lou Reed 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 John Coltrane to the disco 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 Country Joe & The Fish. All the underground hits.
All Deepchord tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Janne Schatter 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 an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lee Hazlewood record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The United States of America,
Jerry's Kids,
The Mummies,
Reagan Youth,
A Certain Ratio,
The Residents,
Gang of Four,
Pet Shop Boys,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
T.S.O.L.,
Niagra,
Morten Harket,
Monks,
Big Daddy Kane,
John Lydon,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Guru Guru,
Accadde A,
Tubeway Army,
The Doobie Brothers,
Donny Hathaway,
Crispy Ambulance,
Ultimate Spinach,
Charles Mingus,
Bobby Byrd,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lightning Bolt,
Saccharine Trust,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Beau Brummels,
Yazoo,
Rod Modell,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Young Marble Giants,
The Cure,
London Community Gospel Choir,
David Bowie,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Brand Nubian,
Livin' Joy,
cv313,
Sun City Girls,
The Motions,
Soft Machine,
Au Pairs,
Rosa Yemen,
Throbbing Gristle,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Joy Division,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Parry Music,
Minnie Riperton,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Talk Talk,
Cal Tjader,
Thee Headcoats,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Agitation Free,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Bluetip,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin.
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.