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 Brunei and from Jakarta.
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 1966 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Minor Threat 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 Flipper. All the underground hits.
All Marcia Griffiths tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Quando Quango record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Spandau Ballet,
Audionom,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
June of 44,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Ultravox,
Bizarre Inc.,
Hashim,
Sarah Menescal,
MDC,
Kerri Chandler,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Don Cherry,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Prince Buster,
John Holt,
Brass Construction,
Gichy Dan,
the Sonics,
The Dirtbombs,
Fela Kuti,
John Coltrane,
Archie Shepp,
David McCallum,
The Cure,
Lower 48,
Simply Red,
The Golliwogs,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Skaos,
The Moleskins,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Gories,
Chrome,
EPMD,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Sexual Harrassment,
John Lydon,
The Birthday Party,
The Standells,
Khruangbin,
The Skatalites,
The Raincoats,
Icehouse,
Patti Smith,
Tears for Fears,
Althea and Donna,
Glenn Branca,
Aural Exciters,
Eric Dolphy,
Ultimate Spinach,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Happenings,
The Leaves,
The Star Department,
The Divine Comedy,
The Detroit Cobras,
Chris Corsano,
Pagans, Pagans, Pagans, Pagans.
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.