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 Turkmenistan and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 808 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 Nils Olav to the grime 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 Aswad. All the underground hits.
All David McCallum tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Anthony Braxton record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sarah Menescal record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Delon & Dalcan,
Grey Daturas,
The Beau Brummels,
Donald Byrd,
Morten Harket,
Liliput,
The Move,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
the Fania All-Stars,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Terrestrial Tones,
Wire,
Neil Young,
Tim Buckley,
Yaz,
Funky Four + One,
Flipper,
Stetsasonic,
The Wake,
Moebius,
Easy Going,
The Detroit Cobras,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Mark Hollis,
Ossler,
Excepter,
Minutemen,
Barry Ungar,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Remains,
Banda Bassotti,
Drexciya,
Dual Sessions,
Andrew Hill,
Jeff Lynne,
Agent Orange,
Echospace,
Albert Ayler,
The Shadows of Knight,
Brass Construction,
The Vogues,
Dark Day,
Pussy Galore,
Jerry's Kids,
Laurel Aitken,
The Techniques,
Gil Scott Heron,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Rakim,
Bauhaus,
Tears for Fears,
Throbbing Gristle,
Fugazi,
Black Flag,
Grandmaster Flash,
Au Pairs,
Lou Reed,
Lower 48,
The Offenders,
Traffic Nightmare,
Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four.
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.