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 Morocco and from Tokyo.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Stockholm.
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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Lower 48 to the jazz 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 Qualms. All the underground hits.
All Yusef Lateef tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Juan Atkins 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bronski Beat 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?
T. Rex,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Leaves,
The Standells,
Rosa Yemen,
Grandmaster Flash,
Sällskapet,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Tim Buckley,
New York Dolls,
Fat Boys,
Lower 48,
Gong,
Tom Boy,
Symarip,
Connie Case,
Bang On A Can,
Nik Kershaw,
Graham Central Station,
New Order,
the Sonics,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Black Dice,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Fela Kuti,
AZ,
Saccharine Trust,
Blossom Toes,
The Vogues,
Los Fastidios,
Das Ding,
Neil Young,
Wings,
Marvin Gaye,
Alison Limerick,
Leonard Cohen,
Robert Görl,
Slave,
Lungfish,
Sonny Sharrock,
Roxy Music,
Flamin' Groovies,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Cure,
The Music Machine,
Derrick May,
Kaleidoscope,
The Count Five,
Cecil Taylor,
The Gories,
Inner City,
Stockholm Monsters,
Big Daddy Kane,
Peter and Kerry,
The Divine Comedy,
the Fania All-Stars,
Eve St. Jones,
The Mojo Men,
Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks.
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.