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 Cairo.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Fela Kuti to the jazz 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 The Detroit Cobras. All the underground hits.
All Nico tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kenny Larkin 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Smog record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Camberwell Now,
Gregory Isaacs,
Tommy Roe,
Godley & Creme,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Dead C,
Oneida,
Schoolly D,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Bush Tetras,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Eurythmics,
The Index,
Vladislav Delay,
Mandrill,
La Düsseldorf,
Intrusion,
Aswad,
Thompson Twins,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Icehouse,
Nation of Ulysses,
Delon & Dalcan,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Amon Düül II,
Pere Ubu,
The Smiths,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Lucky Dragons,
Technova,
The Gun Club,
A Certain Ratio,
Young Marble Giants,
Deadbeat,
Junior Murvin,
A Flock of Seagulls,
a-ha,
Drexciya,
Subhumans,
Crispian St. Peters,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Johnny Clarke,
Dawn Penn,
Little Man,
Jandek,
James White and The Blacks,
the Germs,
The Pop Group,
Symarip,
Shuggie Otis,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Monks,
The Birthday Party,
The Red Krayola,
Minor Threat,
Derrick May,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.