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 Thailand and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1969 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Traffic Nightmare to the rock kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Lou Reed. All the underground hits.
All The Modern Lovers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jacques Brel record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swell Maps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Velvet Underground,
Idris Muhammad,
Curtis Mayfield,
Quantec,
John Foxx,
Adolescents,
Lou Christie,
Sällskapet,
Wally Richardson,
Amon Düül,
The Mojo Men,
48th St. Collective,
Faust,
Panda Bear,
Sister Nancy,
Hoover,
Matthew Halsall,
The Dirtbombs,
Babytalk,
Deadbeat,
The Residents,
Grauzone,
Chris Corsano,
Minor Threat,
Lalo Schifrin,
Erykah Badu,
Q65,
The Fortunes,
Japan,
Crispian St. Peters,
Half Japanese,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Archie Shepp,
Ossler,
Barclay James Harvest,
Gerry Rafferty,
Alison Limerick,
Eve St. Jones,
Marc Almond,
The Trojans,
Peter and Kerry,
The Skatalites,
Prince Buster,
Fatback Band,
EPMD,
Tres Demented,
John Lydon,
Audionom,
Barry Ungar,
Chris & Cosey,
Harmonia,
Interpol,
The Young Rascals,
The Seeds,
Livin' Joy,
Steve Hackett,
Bobby Womack,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Index,
Jawbox,
Amon Düül II,
Dark Day, Dark Day, Dark Day, Dark Day.
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.