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 Dominica and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1962 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the rhodes 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 The Smiths 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 The Victims. All the underground hits.
All Sam Rivers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Spoonie Gee 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Five Americans,
Andrew Hill,
Aural Exciters,
John Coltrane,
Dave Gahan,
Deadbeat,
Glenn Branca,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Pop Group,
Charles Mingus,
Soft Machine,
the Normal,
Television,
Joe Finger,
Donny Hathaway,
Niagra,
Stereo Dub,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Banda Bassotti,
The Mummies,
Eden Ahbez,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Oblivians,
Janne Schatter,
The Raincoats,
Harmonia,
Flamin' Groovies,
Barrington Levy,
Lindisfarne,
Sparks,
Cymande,
ABBA,
Mary Jane Girls,
Idris Muhammad,
Ossler,
Dennis Brown,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Ornette Coleman,
Bobby Womack,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Desert Stars,
Barry Ungar,
PIL,
Ultra Naté,
Massinfluence,
Tubeway Army,
Beasts of Bourbon,
X-Ray Spex,
Mark Hollis,
The Misunderstood,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Sister Nancy,
The Dead C,
Aswad,
Camouflage,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Star Department,
Steve Hackett,
This Heat,
Maleditus Sound,
Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats.
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.