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 Burkina 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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Lyon.
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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the organ 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 In Retrospect to the grime 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 Max Romeo. All the underground hits.
All Davy DMX tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a New Age Steppers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Skarface,
Malaria!,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Bronski Beat,
Agitation Free,
Soul Sonic Force,
Jandek,
Ossler,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Blake Baxter,
Suicide,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Absolute Body Control,
Marc Almond,
Joey Negro,
Simply Red,
Spoonie Gee,
Alice Coltrane,
Nirvana,
Mantronix,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Jerry's Kids,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
This Heat,
Eli Mardock,
Jeru the Damaja,
The Fortunes,
Bang On A Can,
Pharoah Sanders,
Lucky Dragons,
10cc,
Mandrill,
Sonny Sharrock,
Crispy Ambulance,
Cameo,
Scan 7,
F. McDonald,
Marvin Gaye,
The Standells,
Magazine,
Lou Christie,
Shuggie Otis,
MC5,
John Lydon,
Gang of Four,
Bill Wells,
the Association,
Scrapy,
Joy Division,
John Coltrane,
Delon & Dalcan,
Spandau Ballet,
The Offenders,
Derrick May,
X-101,
Matthew Halsall,
D'Angelo, D'Angelo, D'Angelo, D'Angelo.
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.