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 Bhutan and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Arcadia to the techno 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 Andrew Hill. All the underground hits.
All the Slits tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Unwound record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Art Ensemble Of Chicago record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ash Ra Tempel,
Organ,
Liliput,
Ohio Players,
The Toasters,
Sonny Sharrock,
Harry Pussy,
Stereo Dub,
Ronnie Foster,
The Residents,
Rapeman,
Youth Brigade,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ossler,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Pharoah Sanders,
Whodini,
E-Dancer,
Accadde A,
Faraquet,
Tres Demented,
Graham Central Station,
John Coltrane,
Popol Vuh,
John Foxx,
Piero Umiliani,
Erykah Badu,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Jacob Miller,
U.S. Maple,
Negative Approach,
Cecil Taylor,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Hardrive,
In Retrospect,
Main Source,
The Gories,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Quando Quango,
Roy Ayers,
F. McDonald,
FM Einheit,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Grass Roots,
The United States of America,
Crispian St. Peters,
Soul II Soul,
Cheater Slicks,
Swell Maps,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Junior Murvin,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
The Monochrome Set,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Marvin Gaye,
Skarface,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Mighty Diamonds,
MC5,
Gregory Isaacs,
Yazoo,
Livin' Joy,
Thee Headcoats,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel.
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.