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 Marshall Islands and from Toronto.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Erykah Badu to the jazz kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Joensuu 1685. All the underground hits.
All Bootsy Collins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Beau Brummels 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nils Olav record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eli Mardock,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Kerrie Biddell,
Nico,
F. McDonald,
Marshall Jefferson,
Funky Four + One,
Visage,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Yusef Lateef,
Joey Negro,
Easy Going,
Jacob Miller,
The Slits,
The Human League,
Iggy Pop,
Organ,
Juan Atkins,
Bauhaus,
Black Sheep,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Underground Resistance,
Archie Shepp,
The Count Five,
The Real Kids,
Gerry Rafferty,
Isaac Hayes,
Bang On A Can,
The Misunderstood,
Ice-T,
New Order,
K-Klass,
Warsaw,
Bad Manners,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Buzzcocks,
T.S.O.L.,
The Seeds,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Grey Daturas,
Ronnie Foster,
Symarip,
The Names,
Country Teasers,
The Smiths,
Glenn Branca,
Todd Rundgren,
Can,
Liliput,
Deepchord,
The Saints,
Todd Terry,
Joensuu 1685,
Bobby Womack,
U.S. Maple,
The Cure,
Sight & Sound,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Sonic Youth,
Circle Jerks,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Quadrant,
Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal.
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.