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 Bangladesh and from Winnipeg.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the theremin 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 Essential Logic to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon. All the underground hits.
All Angry Samoans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Five Americans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Arthur Verocai record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nick Fraelich,
Radio Birdman,
Harry Pussy,
Pussy Galore,
Zapp,
Scratch Acid,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Inner City,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Ponytail,
Average White Band,
Tommy Roe,
The Knickerbockers,
Oneida,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Bang On A Can,
Gabor Szabo,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Fire Engines,
Radiopuhelimet,
Maurizio,
Franke,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
The Trojans,
Q65,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Motions,
Robert Wyatt,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Bobby Byrd,
Section 25,
Bill Wells,
Reuben Wilson,
Aswad,
Idris Muhammad,
These Immortal Souls,
John Coltrane,
Soul II Soul,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Jeru the Damaja,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
This Heat,
June of 44,
Fad Gadget,
Albert Ayler,
Ultra Naté,
Josef K,
Intrusion,
The Grass Roots,
The Sound,
Joyce Sims,
Monolake,
Erasure,
Smog,
Frankie Knuckles,
Underground Resistance,
James White and The Blacks,
Schoolly D,
Crime,
Unwound,
Chris Corsano,
Peter & Gordon,
Motorama, Motorama, Motorama, Motorama.
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.