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 San Marino and from Beijing.
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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the marimba 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 The Birthday Party to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Flipper. All the underground hits.
All Iggy Pop tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Country Joe & The Fish record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Young Marble Giants record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Wake,
the Fania All-Stars,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Derrick May,
Nation of Ulysses,
the Human League,
Sex Pistols,
Swell Maps,
Panda Bear,
The J.B.'s,
Mantronix,
Reuben Wilson,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Residents,
The United States of America,
Babytalk,
LL Cool J,
kango's stein massive,
Isaac Hayes,
Bill Wells,
Morten Harket,
Cal Tjader,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Maurizio,
The Fall,
The Offenders,
PIL,
Funkadelic,
The Birthday Party,
Technova,
The Moody Blues,
Soft Cell,
Blake Baxter,
ABC,
Porter Ricks,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Raincoats,
Leonard Cohen,
Symarip,
Faust,
Black Sheep,
Crash Course in Science,
X-101,
Electric Prunes,
Motorama,
Mandrill,
Scott Walker,
The Divine Comedy,
Lou Christie,
Icehouse,
Aswad,
the Normal,
The Sound,
Surgeon,
Faraquet,
Donald Byrd,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Jacob Miller,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.