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 Poland and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Hong Kong.
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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 PIL to the funk 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 Derrick May. All the underground hits.
All Be Bop Deluxe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lakeside record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 guitar and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Slick Rick,
Youth Brigade,
Funky Four + One,
Warsaw,
Kayak,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Leaves,
Bizarre Inc.,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Smoke,
Bad Manners,
Popol Vuh,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Hashim,
Arcadia,
Adolescents,
The Dead C,
Glambeats Corp.,
Robert Görl,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Arab on Radar,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Qualms,
Nick Fraelich,
U.S. Maple,
Ohio Players,
The Selecter,
John Cale,
Negative Approach,
Aaron Thompson,
Jeff Mills,
Minnie Riperton,
PIL,
Aloha Tigers,
Jandek,
The Doobie Brothers,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Alton Ellis,
The Trojans,
Prince Buster,
Nas,
Average White Band,
X-102,
Todd Rundgren,
Scion,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Donny Hathaway,
Johnny Osbourne,
Wolf Eyes,
Lou Reed,
The Happenings,
Harry Pussy,
Fad Gadget,
The Names,
Pharoah Sanders,
Camouflage,
Kool Moe Dee,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Vogues,
Pantaleimon,
The Walker Brothers,
The Birthday Party,
Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe.
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.