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 Slovakia and from Mexico City.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 linndrum 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 Kaleidoscope to the rap kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Tomorrow. All the underground hits.
All Ludus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every F. McDonald record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fluxion record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Al Stewart,
Piero Umiliani,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
These Immortal Souls,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Masters at Work,
Crispian St. Peters,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Young Marble Giants,
The Durutti Column,
Glambeats Corp.,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Alice Coltrane,
Kerrie Biddell,
the Swans,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Black Dice,
Roy Ayers,
The Birthday Party,
Pharoah Sanders,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Pussy Galore,
The Kinks,
Oneida,
Prince Buster,
Morten Harket,
Gichy Dan,
The Raincoats,
Vladislav Delay,
Donald Byrd,
June Days,
Lyres,
the Normal,
Judy Mowatt,
Jawbox,
Connie Case,
Nico,
The Sonics,
Index,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Ultra Naté,
Circle Jerks,
Ten City,
Clear Light,
Marine Girls,
Basic Channel,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Charles Mingus,
Radiopuhelimet,
Fugazi,
Jacques Brel,
Lindisfarne,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Swell Maps,
Amon Düül II,
Tom Boy,
Rapeman,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson.
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.