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 Eritrea and from Lagos.
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 1962 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Das Ding to the crunk 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 Nirvana. All the underground hits.
All The Five Americans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jacob Miller record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cheater Slicks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ultravox,
Ten City,
Harpers Bizarre,
Heaven 17,
Wings,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
PIL,
L. Decosne,
Peter & Gordon,
Soft Machine,
Jacques Brel,
Grauzone,
Bauhaus,
Organ,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Kool Moe Dee,
Hardrive,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Josef K,
The Fire Engines,
The Blackbyrds,
Gang Starr,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Make Up,
Aswad,
Visage,
Audionom,
The Names,
AZ,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Roxette,
Bronski Beat,
Soft Cell,
Tommy Roe,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Cheater Slicks,
Unwound,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Remains,
The Selecter,
Anthony Braxton,
ABBA,
Oneida,
Fear,
Mary Jane Girls,
The J.B.'s,
Eric B and Rakim,
Silicon Teens,
Skriet,
Henry Cow,
Eli Mardock,
The Gap Band,
Fugazi,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Buzzcocks,
The Electric Prunes,
Neu!,
The Buckinghams,
Ice-T,
The Shadows of Knight,
Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near.
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.