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 Singapore and from Manila.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 JFA to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Janne Schatter. All the underground hits.
All The Litter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Anakelly 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mantronix record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Saints,
AZ,
John Coltrane,
The Angels of Light,
Ronan,
Babytalk,
Moebius,
Talk Talk,
The Trojans,
Brothers Johnson,
The Kinks,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
DNA,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Standells,
New Age Steppers,
The Move,
Matthew Halsall,
The Velvet Underground,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Nils Olav,
The Motions,
Aaron Thompson,
The Raincoats,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bobby Sherman,
Brass Construction,
Terrestrial Tones,
Byron Stingily,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Yusef Lateef,
Rotary Connection,
Pylon,
The Sound,
Quando Quango,
Bluetip,
KRS-One,
Guru Guru,
Black Flag,
Hot Snakes,
The Neon Judgement,
Ituana,
The Index,
Gabor Szabo,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Oblivians,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Quantec,
Swell Maps,
Make Up,
Fugazi,
T.S.O.L.,
Josef K,
The Fuzztones,
Juan Atkins,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Circle Jerks,
Ajijia Myrayebe, Ajijia Myrayebe, Ajijia Myrayebe, Ajijia Myrayebe.
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.