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 Liberia and from Manchester.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Swans to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Mojo Men. All the underground hits.
All Mo-Dettes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Blossom Toes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Remains record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minor Threat,
Cecil Taylor,
Eurythmics,
F. McDonald,
Loose Ends,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Guru Guru,
Scratch Acid,
Sam Rivers,
Glambeats Corp.,
Ronan,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Archie Shepp,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Birthday Party,
Trumans Water,
Sight & Sound,
Juan Atkins,
Don Cherry,
Rites of Spring,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Isaac Hayes,
Anthony Braxton,
Gil Scott Heron,
Janne Schatter,
Marvin Gaye,
The Red Krayola,
X-102,
Jacob Miller,
CMW,
Organ,
Second Layer,
Gerry Rafferty,
Alison Limerick,
Q65,
Eric Dolphy,
Piero Umiliani,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Cameo,
Bluetip,
T. Rex,
Icehouse,
The Moody Blues,
The Remains,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Leaves,
Peter and Kerry,
Circle Jerks,
Drexciya,
The Selecter,
Fad Gadget,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Inner City,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Pop Group,
Jeru the Damaja,
Johnny Osbourne,
Barry Ungar,
Royal Trux,
Graham Central Station,
Boz Scaggs,
Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu.
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.