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 South Sudan and from Houston.
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 1967 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Nation of Ulysses to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Leonard Cohen. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Toni Rubio 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Harry Pussy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Junior Murvin,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Zeros,
Eric B and Rakim,
Suicide,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Marshall Jefferson,
Bush Tetras,
Sällskapet,
Ornette Coleman,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Human League,
Silicon Teens,
Y Pants,
Angry Samoans,
Boredoms,
Lebanon Hanover,
Freddie Wadling,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
OOIOO,
Jesper Dahlback,
Aural Exciters,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Bang On A Can,
The Slackers,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The American Breed,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Aaron Thompson,
Japan,
Trumans Water,
Althea and Donna,
Marine Girls,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Nico,
Gichy Dan,
Mandrill,
Quantec,
Lyres,
Mark Hollis,
Franke,
Guru Guru,
Tres Demented,
Sarah Menescal,
Davy DMX,
Nas,
Yazoo,
Oneida,
Ossler,
Jeff Mills,
Gil Scott Heron,
Iggy Pop,
Prince Buster,
The Gun Club,
Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar.
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.