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 Guinea and from Portland.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Manchester.
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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar 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 Joyce Sims to the punk 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 The Evens. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bobbi Humphrey 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Groovy Waters record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Toasters,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Vainqueur,
The Gories,
Lou Christie,
Eden Ahbez,
Lightning Bolt,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Mars,
Scan 7,
Darondo,
Bob Dylan,
Roxette,
Byron Stingily,
Warren Ellis,
The Smiths,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Marine Girls,
Deadbeat,
Black Flag,
Charles Mingus,
Tommy Roe,
Howard Jones,
10cc,
Slave,
Kevin Saunderson,
Radiohead,
Oblivians,
Simply Red,
Index,
Kurtis Blow,
Sonic Youth,
Joe Finger,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Leaves,
Duran Duran,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Bobby Sherman,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Absolute Body Control,
The Cowsills,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Tears for Fears,
Leonard Cohen,
Reagan Youth,
Bluetip,
R.M.O.,
La Düsseldorf,
Bobby Womack,
Japan,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
DJ Sneak,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bad Manners,
KRS-One,
Eli Mardock,
Visage,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Newcleus,
A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio.
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.