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 Qatar 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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the organ 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 Warsaw to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Crispian St. Peters. All the underground hits.
All Crooked Eye tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Anthony Braxton record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gerry Rafferty record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Half Japanese,
Gang Green,
Stetsasonic,
The Kinks,
Siglo XX,
Young Marble Giants,
In Retrospect,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Nick Fraelich,
Toni Rubio,
Groovy Waters,
Altered Images,
Aaron Thompson,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Circle Jerks,
Mo-Dettes,
B.T. Express,
Rosa Yemen,
Gang of Four,
Gong,
Visage,
Pantytec,
Eurythmics,
Scratch Acid,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Moss Icon,
Spoonie Gee,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Pop Group,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Au Pairs,
Swans,
The Fuzztones,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Albert Ayler,
Can,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Five Americans,
Nas,
Eric B and Rakim,
Scan 7,
Ken Boothe,
Henry Cow,
Pierre Henry,
Yellowson,
Alice Coltrane,
Harry Pussy,
Metal Thangz,
Royal Trux,
Whodini,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Wings,
the Sonics,
The Gap Band,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Robert Görl,
Cymande,
Echospace,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
UT,
the Slits,
The Zeros,
Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now.
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.