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 Malawi 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 1965 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 sitar 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 Archie Shepp to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 The Mighty Diamonds. All the underground hits.
All Jawbox tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fall 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bizarre Inc. record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Accadde A,
Colin Newman,
Alice Coltrane,
Derrick Morgan,
the Fania All-Stars,
Mo-Dettes,
L. Decosne,
Jacques Brel,
Simply Red,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Wasted Youth,
Leonard Cohen,
Basic Channel,
Deadbeat,
Patti Smith,
Crash Course in Science,
Babytalk,
Boogie Down Productions,
John Coltrane,
the Normal,
Black Moon,
The Selecter,
Brick,
Radio Birdman,
DNA,
Sun Ra,
The Blues Magoos,
Royal Trux,
Half Japanese,
Donny Hathaway,
Model 500,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
ABBA,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Can,
Sugar Minott,
Zero Boys,
Roxy Music,
Lebanon Hanover,
Hardrive,
Gang Gang Dance,
Don Cherry,
The Saints,
Delon & Dalcan,
Todd Terry,
Peter and Kerry,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Joe Smooth,
Johnny Osbourne,
Kool Moe Dee,
U.S. Maple,
Intrusion,
The Doobie Brothers,
Jacob Miller,
John Foxx,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
New Age Steppers,
The Motions,
The Last Poets, The Last Poets, The Last Poets, The Last Poets.
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.