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 Mauritania and from Calgary.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Connie Case 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 Kerri Chandler. All the underground hits.
All Robert Wyatt tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Circle Jerks 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fear record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grauzone,
Pagans,
Echospace,
Masters at Work,
Porter Ricks,
Nas,
Funky Four + One,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Harpers Bizarre,
Delon & Dalcan,
DJ Style,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
PIL,
Radio Birdman,
Audionom,
Gabor Szabo,
The Five Americans,
The Toasters,
Mark Hollis,
Agent Orange,
Qualms,
Derrick Morgan,
The Gap Band,
The Birthday Party,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Young Marble Giants,
Harmonia,
Basic Channel,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Names,
Wolf Eyes,
Brothers Johnson,
The Skatalites,
Girls At Our Best!,
Fela Kuti,
Cecil Taylor,
the Association,
The Cramps,
June Days,
B.T. Express,
Altered Images,
Cameo,
the Bar-Kays,
The Kinks,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Los Fastidios,
Whodini,
Jeru the Damaja,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Alphaville,
The Last Poets,
Scion,
Jandek,
Gichy Dan,
The Misunderstood,
Sam Rivers,
Deadbeat,
Heaven 17,
The Fuzztones,
The Durutti Column,
Vainqueur,
Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls.
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.