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 Azerbaijan and from Accra.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 linndrum 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 New Order to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Unrelated Segments. All the underground hits.
All Max Romeo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Doobie Brothers 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Symarip record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Index,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Metal Thangz,
These Immortal Souls,
Pole,
Radiopuhelimet,
Tubeway Army,
Lalann,
Scrapy,
Rufus Thomas,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Gang of Four,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Radiohead,
Avey Tare,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Tears for Fears,
The Mummies,
Lalo Schifrin,
Harpers Bizarre,
Soft Cell,
Leonard Cohen,
Ice-T,
Blossom Toes,
Kayak,
U.S. Maple,
The Searchers,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
a-ha,
Kurtis Blow,
Fela Kuti,
Colin Newman,
Underground Resistance,
Little Man,
Cheater Slicks,
Bush Tetras,
Eve St. Jones,
Derrick Morgan,
Supertramp,
Massinfluence,
Skarface,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Aaron Thompson,
Kaleidoscope,
Wings,
Barclay James Harvest,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Chris Corsano,
Au Pairs,
Flash Fearless,
Quando Quango,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Matthew Bourne,
Pussy Galore,
Electric Prunes,
Alton Ellis,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Fortunes,
Infiniti,
The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines.
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.