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 Vietnam 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 1967 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Alarm Clocks to the disco 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 Tres Demented. All the underground hits.
All China Crisis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Index record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 chamberlin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soft Cell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Erasure,
Monolake,
Lebanon Hanover,
Eric B and Rakim,
Deakin,
Janne Schatter,
Big Daddy Kane,
Howard Jones,
Hardrive,
Susan Cadogan,
Scan 7,
Bang On A Can,
Nas,
David Bowie,
Henry Cow,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Subhumans,
Byron Stingily,
Gregory Isaacs,
Tropical Tobacco,
Fat Boys,
New Order,
Fear,
Mad Mike,
Von Mondo,
Drive Like Jehu,
Gabor Szabo,
Quando Quango,
Amon Düül,
Fatback Band,
Jimmy McGriff,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Pussy Galore,
Bobby Byrd,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Judy Mowatt,
Country Teasers,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Adolescents,
Roger Hodgson,
Todd Rundgren,
Bush Tetras,
ABC,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Terry Callier,
Franke,
48th St. Collective,
Aural Exciters,
The Pretty Things,
Anakelly,
The Golliwogs,
8 Eyed Spy,
Eric Copeland,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Flash Fearless,
Gang Green,
Crispy Ambulance, Crispy Ambulance, Crispy Ambulance, Crispy Ambulance.
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.