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 Thailand and from Cairo.
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 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Brand Nubian to the jazz kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Slick Rick. All the underground hits.
All Mars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cybotron record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Graham Central Station record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ten City,
the Bar-Kays,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Vladislav Delay,
Pussy Galore,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
UT,
U.S. Maple,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Marc Almond,
Minutemen,
Thee Headcoats,
The Seeds,
Al Stewart,
David Bowie,
Babytalk,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Detroit Cobras,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Roxy Music,
Sound Behaviour,
Alton Ellis,
The Gories,
Black Sheep,
Black Pus,
Rekid,
Swans,
The Fire Engines,
The Dave Clark Five,
Susan Cadogan,
Fela Kuti,
Ponytail,
Boogie Down Productions,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Nico,
Subhumans,
Henry Cow,
Eve St. Jones,
Barbara Tucker,
Suicide,
Tim Buckley,
Dorothy Ashby,
Cybotron,
Swell Maps,
The Blues Magoos,
Joyce Sims,
Kerri Chandler,
Fifty Foot Hose,
The Modern Lovers,
The Young Rascals,
Chris & Cosey,
Whodini,
Livin' Joy,
The Move,
Eurythmics,
Infiniti,
ABBA,
The Vogues,
Liliput,
Symarip,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall, Matthew Halsall.
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.