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 Congo and from Paris.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 chamberlin 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 Loose Ends to the funk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Mighty Diamonds. All the underground hits.
All Jerry Gold Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Erasure record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Barclay James Harvest,
Bluetip,
Tres Demented,
Wolf Eyes,
ABBA,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Minny Pops,
The Buckinghams,
The Golliwogs,
Juan Atkins,
Funky Four + One,
DJ Sneak,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Half Japanese,
Eric B and Rakim,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Skarface,
Agent Orange,
Jacob Miller,
Fear,
The Pretty Things,
The Skatalites,
Tomorrow,
Patti Smith,
the Fania All-Stars,
Colin Newman,
L. Decosne,
Toni Rubio,
Kas Product,
Shuggie Otis,
Darondo,
Crime,
Ultra Naté,
Cecil Taylor,
Lucky Dragons,
Camouflage,
Kayak,
Soulsonic Force,
Simply Red,
DJ Style,
Brand Nubian,
E-Dancer,
Wings,
Make Up,
Bang On A Can,
Rhythm & Sound,
Metal Thangz,
Cheater Slicks,
Marc Almond,
Rufus Thomas,
Eve St. Jones,
Gong,
New York Dolls,
Public Enemy,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Judy Mowatt,
Main Source,
Lindisfarne,
Dead Boys,
The Moleskins,
Josef K,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin, Khruangbin.
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.