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 Equatorial Guinea and from Winnipeg.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Sly & The Family Stone to the dance 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 Harry Pussy. All the underground hits.
All Marvin Gaye tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jawbox record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Byron Stingily,
New York Dolls,
Schoolly D,
Public Image Ltd.,
The New Christs,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Das Ding,
Depeche Mode,
Fugazi,
Skarface,
48th St. Collective,
Blancmange,
Minutemen,
Subhumans,
Spandau Ballet,
Archie Shepp,
The Beau Brummels,
Babytalk,
Rod Modell,
Lalann,
Circle Jerks,
The Smiths,
Magma,
The Offenders,
The Last Poets,
Average White Band,
These Immortal Souls,
X-102,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Juan Atkins,
Crime,
Barbara Tucker,
Mark Hollis,
This Heat,
Malaria!,
Swell Maps,
Harmonia,
Sun City Girls,
Oneida,
The Pretty Things,
Ralphi Rosario,
Johnny Clarke,
Piero Umiliani,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Scion,
Max Romeo,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Franke,
Boz Scaggs,
K-Klass,
Quadrant,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Lakeside,
Goldenarms,
Chris Corsano,
The Misunderstood,
Alton Ellis,
Nico,
Stockholm Monsters,
Skaos,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
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.