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 Philippines and from Accra.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Dual Sessions to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Alphaville. All the underground hits.
All Anthony Braxton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Art Ensemble Of Chicago record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fugazi record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
a-ha,
The Smiths,
Laurel Aitken,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Pulsallama,
The Gun Club,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Monks,
Angry Samoans,
Procol Harum,
The Smoke,
Quadrant,
Con Funk Shun,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Pretty Things,
Visage,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Neon Judgement,
Bill Wells,
Bootsy Collins,
The Velvet Underground,
The Skatalites,
Rhythm & Sound,
Boogie Down Productions,
Easy Going,
Gil Scott Heron,
the Bar-Kays,
Silicon Teens,
Harry Pussy,
Brick,
DJ Style,
Kenny Larkin,
Roxette,
Warsaw,
Nik Kershaw,
Talk Talk,
Bang On A Can,
Colin Newman,
The Real Kids,
Marcia Griffiths,
Ronan,
Soft Cell,
Unwound,
Brass Construction,
The Slackers,
Main Source,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Soul II Soul,
Severed Heads,
Donny Hathaway,
Average White Band,
June Days,
Black Flag,
Thompson Twins,
Anakelly,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Agent Orange,
In Retrospect,
Flipper, Flipper, Flipper, Flipper.
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.