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 Paraguay and from Tokyo.
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 1962 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the guitar 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 Jacob Miller to the crunk 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 Royal Trux. All the underground hits.
All F. McDonald tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Duran Duran record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dark Day record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Standells,
Q and Not U,
Lungfish,
Johnny Clarke,
Black Pus,
Supertramp,
Moby Grape,
Neu!,
Jandek,
Eric B and Rakim,
Pole,
Juan Atkins,
The Barracudas,
Byron Stingily,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Sandy B,
Gang of Four,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Moody Blues,
The Leaves,
Delon & Dalcan,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Victims,
Anakelly,
Mary Jane Girls,
Susan Cadogan,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Grandmaster Flash,
Jeff Mills,
Quando Quango,
Crispy Ambulance,
Moebius,
David McCallum,
Ludus,
Outsiders,
The Golliwogs,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Surgeon,
Eurythmics,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Stiv Bators,
Rosa Yemen,
Urselle,
Aloha Tigers,
Bill Near,
The Monochrome Set,
The Mojo Men,
Nick Fraelich,
the Sonics,
T.S.O.L.,
Donald Byrd,
Television Personalities,
New York Dolls,
Stetsasonic,
Bronski Beat,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Minutemen,
Crime,
Niagra,
Los Fastidios,
Colin Newman,
The Trojans,
Swell Maps,
Skriet,
the Germs, the Germs, the Germs, the Germs.
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.