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 Sierra Leone and from London.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 1962 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 Michael McDonald 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 Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band. All the underground hits.
All Scion tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sun Ra record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 guitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Chrome record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Golliwogs,
Swans,
OOIOO,
Patti Smith,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Absolute Body Control,
Royal Trux,
Circle Jerks,
Aaron Thompson,
Eli Mardock,
T. Rex,
Donny Hathaway,
Section 25,
Lindisfarne,
Symarip,
Pierre Henry,
Desert Stars,
Alton Ellis,
Al Stewart,
the Germs,
Joensuu 1685,
Das Ding,
Procol Harum,
Spoonie Gee,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Don Cherry,
Black Pus,
The Fortunes,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
R.M.O.,
Aswad,
Thee Headcoats,
cv313,
The Busters,
Chris Corsano,
The Monochrome Set,
Rakim,
Sun Ra,
Gastr Del Sol,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bang On A Can,
Albert Ayler,
E-Dancer,
The Count Five,
The Buckinghams,
Lee Hazlewood,
Ronan,
Sandy B,
The Evens,
Roger Hodgson,
Basic Channel,
Letta Mbulu,
New Age Steppers,
Au Pairs,
Khruangbin,
Freddie Wadling,
8 Eyed Spy,
Sarah Menescal,
Half Japanese,
H. Thieme,
The Remains,
Q and Not U, Q and Not U, Q and Not U, Q and Not U.
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.