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 St Lucia 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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 clarinet 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 Gang Starr to the rap kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Leonard Cohen. All the underground hits.
All Silicon Teens tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lebanon Hanover 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yazoo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Kas Product,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Cal Tjader,
The Gories,
Echospace,
Index,
Buzzcocks,
Tim Buckley,
Newcleus,
PIL,
The Young Rascals,
Organ,
Silicon Teens,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Quadrant,
Fat Boys,
The Beau Brummels,
Danielle Patucci,
The Names,
Motorama,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Harpers Bizarre,
Amazonics,
Funky Four + One,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Glenn Branca,
The Associates,
David Axelrod,
Minutemen,
Cecil Taylor,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Steve Hackett,
John Coltrane,
Bobby Byrd,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Max Romeo,
Swell Maps,
Eric B and Rakim,
Harry Pussy,
The J.B.'s,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Moleskins,
Derrick Morgan,
Visage,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Neil Young,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The United States of America,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Lungfish,
Grauzone,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Pop Group,
Animal Collective,
John Holt,
Public Enemy,
Spandau Ballet,
June of 44, June of 44, June of 44, June of 44.
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.