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 Sudan and from Philadelphia.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Ash Ra Tempel to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Siouxsie and the Banshees. All the underground hits.
All D'Angelo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
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 D'Angelo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Knickerbockers,
The Young Rascals,
The Fall,
The Dave Clark Five,
Suicide,
The Blackbyrds,
The Leaves,
Ultravox,
Eli Mardock,
U.S. Maple,
The Buckinghams,
Section 25,
The Selecter,
Buzzcocks,
ABC,
Nas,
Wings,
Clear Light,
Index,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Juan Atkins,
Robert Wyatt,
Bang On A Can,
Hardrive,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Metal Thangz,
Terry Callier,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Pylon,
Aaron Thompson,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Flash Fearless,
Radio Birdman,
Cal Tjader,
Eddi Front,
The Dirtbombs,
Mandrill,
Matthew Halsall,
H. Thieme,
PIL,
Frankie Knuckles,
Moss Icon,
Negative Approach,
Roger Hodgson,
Tears for Fears,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Durutti Column,
Alton Ellis,
Joy Division,
Japan,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Slackers,
Warsaw,
Boogie Down Productions,
Piero Umiliani,
Max Romeo,
Wasted Youth,
Livin' Joy,
Kayak,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.