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 Thailand and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Wally Richardson to the grime 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 Kenny Larkin. All the underground hits.
All Liliput tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cal Tjader record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lightning Bolt record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Pop Group,
Kayak,
Sarah Menescal,
Y Pants,
Sun City Girls,
Drexciya,
Bill Near,
Clear Light,
Anthony Braxton,
Brick,
Wasted Youth,
John Cale,
Lou Reed,
Cheater Slicks,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Alphaville,
Chrome,
Fugazi,
The Raincoats,
Cal Tjader,
Porter Ricks,
Mandrill,
Lebanon Hanover,
MDC,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Quando Quango,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Fatback Band,
Minnie Riperton,
Don Cherry,
Michelle Simonal,
Ten City,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Sight & Sound,
Althea and Donna,
the Slits,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Smoke,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Nik Kershaw,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Pet Shop Boys,
Youth Brigade,
Harmonia,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Mo-Dettes,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Scion,
Frankie Knuckles,
Quadrant,
Bad Manners,
The Happenings,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Pylon,
Half Japanese,
Kaleidoscope,
Connie Case,
The Litter,
Cameo,
Camberwell Now,
E-Dancer, E-Dancer, E-Dancer, E-Dancer.
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.