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 Chad and from Johannesburg.
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 1963 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Goldenarms to the techno 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 Ludus. All the underground hits.
All Deakin tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Doors record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 an arpeggiator and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lou Reed record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Symarip,
L. Decosne,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Standells,
Curtis Mayfield,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Schoolly D,
MDC,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Associates,
Infiniti,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Camouflage,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Evens,
Camberwell Now,
Todd Terry,
Bluetip,
Dave Gahan,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Robert Görl,
Flipper,
Negative Approach,
Kerrie Biddell,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Nas,
Andrew Hill,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Flesh Eaters,
Brothers Johnson,
Dennis Brown,
David Bowie,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
the Germs,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Sarah Menescal,
Jeru the Damaja,
Rakim,
The Selecter,
Spandau Ballet,
Big Daddy Kane,
Altered Images,
Tomorrow,
Moby Grape,
Ultravox,
X-102,
a-ha,
Boz Scaggs,
Junior Murvin,
The Moleskins,
Arcadia,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Marc Almond,
Mr. Review,
Lindisfarne,
Agitation Free,
Sparks, Sparks, Sparks, Sparks.
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.