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 Pakistan and from Salvador.
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 1961 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Interpol to the disco kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bad Manners. All the underground hits.
All Barclay James Harvest tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every ABBA 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dawn Penn record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Piero Umiliani,
John Holt,
Peter and Kerry,
the Association,
Warren Ellis,
Nick Fraelich,
T. Rex,
China Crisis,
Tubeway Army,
Harpers Bizarre,
Barbara Tucker,
Donny Hathaway,
Oblivians,
Morten Harket,
Aural Exciters,
Alphaville,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Desert Stars,
Brothers Johnson,
B.T. Express,
Kayak,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Sparks,
Ponytail,
Deadbeat,
Maurizio,
Gil Scott Heron,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Skaos,
Mo-Dettes,
Brand Nubian,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
X-101,
Fad Gadget,
Television Personalities,
Derrick May,
The Cowsills,
Franke,
PIL,
Sexual Harrassment,
Marmalade,
The J.B.'s,
Robert Hood,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Mad Mike,
Janne Schatter,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Tommy Roe,
E-Dancer,
Section 25,
Pere Ubu,
Pulsallama,
Hashim,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Mandrill,
Excepter,
Slick Rick,
Gang Gang Dance,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Average White Band,
F. McDonald,
Procol Harum, Procol Harum, Procol Harum, Procol Harum.
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.