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 New York.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the linndrum 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 Eric Dolphy to the grime 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 Lou Reed. All the underground hits.
All Can tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rotary Connection 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 an arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Fire Engines record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Joe Smooth,
Erykah Badu,
Saccharine Trust,
The Gladiators,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
the Sonics,
Bobby Womack,
Smog,
AZ,
The Martian,
Godley & Creme,
Thompson Twins,
The Seeds,
the Bar-Kays,
the Germs,
Loose Ends,
Absolute Body Control,
Lakeside,
Au Pairs,
Crispy Ambulance,
Dual Sessions,
Grandmaster Flash,
kango's stein massive,
Funky Four + One,
The Black Dice,
Kerrie Biddell,
Chris Corsano,
Barclay James Harvest,
Donny Hathaway,
Joensuu 1685,
Ossler,
Robert Wyatt,
Desert Stars,
Boogie Down Productions,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Rhythm & Sound,
Kaleidoscope,
Quando Quango,
Tomorrow,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Offenders,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Flipper,
Surgeon,
Heaven 17,
Television Personalities,
Drexciya,
Motorama,
Hardrive,
Minor Threat,
Bad Manners,
ABC,
Michelle Simonal,
In Retrospect,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
La Düsseldorf,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Buckinghams,
Pierre Henry,
Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can, Bang On A Can.
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.