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 Comoros 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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Calgary.
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 1976 at the first Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Gong to the techno kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Jandek. All the underground hits.
All Sugar Minott tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every A Flock of Seagulls record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 harpsichord and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Flesh Eaters record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Black Bananas,
The Star Department,
The Cramps,
Cecil Taylor,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Joensuu 1685,
The Fuzztones,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Scrapy,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Gregory Isaacs,
June of 44,
The Pop Group,
Swell Maps,
EPMD,
Dual Sessions,
Cybotron,
Spandau Ballet,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Sonics,
UT,
The Raincoats,
The Shadows of Knight,
Flash Fearless,
James White and The Blacks,
the Normal,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Flipper,
kango's stein massive,
Babytalk,
Archie Shepp,
The Cure,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Eric Copeland,
Smog,
Zapp,
Toni Rubio,
Procol Harum,
Fela Kuti,
Amazonics,
Pylon,
Thee Headcoats,
Eddi Front,
Sam Rivers,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Velvet Underground,
The Golliwogs,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Lightning Bolt,
Idris Muhammad,
Angry Samoans,
Lucky Dragons,
T.S.O.L.,
Electric Prunes,
Stereo Dub,
Vainqueur,
Siglo XX,
Crooked Eye,
AZ,
Judy Mowatt,
Easy Going, Easy Going, Easy Going, Easy Going.
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.