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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Paris.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Warren Ellis to the disco kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Fat Boys. All the underground hits.
All Tears for Fears tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Pretty Things record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Godley & Creme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Joey Negro,
Harry Pussy,
Arcadia,
Q and Not U,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Crime,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Thompson Twins,
Wasted Youth,
Isaac Hayes,
Terry Callier,
Lou Reed,
Main Source,
Black Flag,
Y Pants,
Royal Trux,
A Certain Ratio,
Gang of Four,
Bad Manners,
Alice Coltrane,
New Age Steppers,
Jacob Miller,
The Blackbyrds,
Los Fastidios,
The Stooges,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Guru Guru,
Motorama,
Young Marble Giants,
Chrome,
Barbara Tucker,
Ultravox,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Lindisfarne,
Gang Green,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Bob Dylan,
Vladislav Delay,
The Misunderstood,
The Star Department,
Gang Starr,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Bill Wells,
Aural Exciters,
Black Sheep,
Jandek,
Brass Construction,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ice-T,
Gil Scott Heron,
Faraquet,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Pere Ubu,
Television Personalities,
Thee Headcoats,
Masters at Work,
Roy Ayers,
OOIOO,
Rufus Thomas,
Black Pus,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
EPMD, EPMD, EPMD, EPMD.
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.