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 Lebanon and from Shanghai.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Young Marble Giants. All the underground hits.
All The Red Krayola tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rosa Yemen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 harpsichord and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Desert Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scratch Acid,
Bill Wells,
Chrome,
Masters at Work,
Excepter,
Suburban Knight,
The Toasters,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Names,
Magazine,
Mars,
Barbara Tucker,
Duran Duran,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Jacob Miller,
Stockholm Monsters,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Johnny Osbourne,
Joe Smooth,
Arthur Verocai,
Motorama,
Hasil Adkins,
Pulsallama,
Matthew Bourne,
The Alarm Clocks,
Soulsonic Force,
Gregory Isaacs,
Quando Quango,
Kurtis Blow,
Youth Brigade,
The Last Poets,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Q and Not U,
Tubeway Army,
Goldenarms,
Niagra,
Lucky Dragons,
The Trojans,
The Slits,
Smog,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Surgeon,
Scrapy,
Groovy Waters,
U.S. Maple,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Rhythm & Sound,
Theoretical Girls,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Dual Sessions,
John Lydon,
Slave,
Bobbi Humphrey,
cv313,
Neu!,
Fear,
Nik Kershaw,
Carl Craig,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
The Star Department,
The Gladiators,
Moss Icon,
The Golliwogs,
David McCallum, David McCallum, David McCallum, David McCallum.
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.