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 Thailand and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the sitar 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 Cal Tjader to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Maurizio. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott Heron tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Godley & Creme 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Electric Light Orchestra,
Derrick May,
Radio Birdman,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Schoolly D,
Moebius,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Scratch Acid,
The Slits,
B.T. Express,
Unwound,
Flamin' Groovies,
Joyce Sims,
Brothers Johnson,
Wolf Eyes,
The Pretty Things,
The Cowsills,
Arab on Radar,
AZ,
Swans,
Gang Green,
KRS-One,
Hot Snakes,
PIL,
Jawbox,
Roger Hodgson,
The Selecter,
Sarah Menescal,
Rakim,
Smog,
Magma,
T.S.O.L.,
L. Decosne,
The Fortunes,
The Sonics,
David Bowie,
Talk Talk,
Amon Düül,
The Mummies,
Curtis Mayfield,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Kinks,
Guru Guru,
Popol Vuh,
Fad Gadget,
The Golliwogs,
Camouflage,
Marvin Gaye,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Donald Byrd,
Drexciya,
Black Sheep,
Kaleidoscope,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Young Marble Giants,
Lebanon Hanover,
X-101,
Quantec,
Niagra,
Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp.
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.