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 Paraguay and from Houston.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Robert Wyatt to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Grey Daturas. All the underground hits.
All Soul Sonic Force tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Royal Trux record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
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 John Lydon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
La Düsseldorf,
Neu!,
T. Rex,
Eric Copeland,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Thompson Twins,
The Real Kids,
Lyres,
Bobby Hutcherson,
JFA,
the Bar-Kays,
World's Most,
Fela Kuti,
the Germs,
Skriet,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Wasted Youth,
Los Fastidios,
New Order,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Roger Hodgson,
The Gories,
Derrick Morgan,
Main Source,
The Techniques,
Barrington Levy,
The Blackbyrds,
Tres Demented,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Heaven 17,
DJ Style,
The Sound,
The Golliwogs,
The Cramps,
Peter & Gordon,
Groovy Waters,
Sun Ra,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Traffic Nightmare,
X-Ray Spex,
Robert Wyatt,
Gerry Rafferty,
Tim Buckley,
The Fire Engines,
Josef K,
The Fugs,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Moss Icon,
Don Cherry,
MDC,
Boz Scaggs,
Nico,
Susan Cadogan,
Oneida,
Bang On A Can,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Ice-T,
Henry Cow,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Birthday Party,
Country Teasers,
Rufus Thomas,
Pantaleimon, Pantaleimon, Pantaleimon, Pantaleimon.
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.