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 Bhutan and from Paris.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in 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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Rahsaan Roland Kirk to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Marmalade. All the underground hits.
All AZ tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Basic Channel record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Theoretical Girls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Banda Bassotti,
Moss Icon,
Public Image Ltd.,
Electric Prunes,
Nils Olav,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Ronnie Foster,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
D'Angelo,
the Germs,
kango's stein massive,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Sandy B,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Inner City,
Bronski Beat,
Ultimate Spinach,
Alton Ellis,
The Selecter,
Sarah Menescal,
The Fugs,
Technova,
Supertramp,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Robert Wyatt,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Arcadia,
Unwound,
Crispy Ambulance,
L. Decosne,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Lalo Schifrin,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Icehouse,
Michelle Simonal,
Leonard Cohen,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Alice Coltrane,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Ludus,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Shoche,
The Real Kids,
Television,
Wire,
Sugar Minott,
Circle Jerks,
Flipper,
The Pretty Things,
The Velvet Underground,
the Swans,
Bootsy Collins,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Misunderstood,
Subhumans,
Judy Mowatt,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Radiopuhelimet,
Young Marble Giants,
The Raincoats,
Kayak,
Flamin' Groovies,
Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville, Alphaville.
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.