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 Ivory Coast and from Lagos.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Slave to the crunk 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 Darondo. All the underground hits.
All Radio Birdman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bluetip record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Livin' Joy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roxy Music,
AZ,
Donny Hathaway,
Derrick May,
Pussy Galore,
Tres Demented,
The Pop Group,
The Victims,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Kenny Larkin,
Arcadia,
Bobby Byrd,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Velvet Underground,
Eric B and Rakim,
Terrestrial Tones,
Derrick Morgan,
Cameo,
Quantec,
Scrapy,
Joensuu 1685,
Marc Almond,
Kurtis Blow,
Moss Icon,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Idris Muhammad,
The Shadows of Knight,
Scion,
The Dave Clark Five,
T.S.O.L.,
Aaron Thompson,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Delta 5,
Rufus Thomas,
Jacques Brel,
Talk Talk,
Negative Approach,
Make Up,
Japan,
The Young Rascals,
The Searchers,
Minor Threat,
The Fugs,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Star Department,
The Moody Blues,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Todd Terry,
Pantytec,
Traffic Nightmare,
Max Romeo,
Rhythm & Sound,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Animal Collective,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Durutti Column,
Johnny Clarke,
Lebanon Hanover,
John Lydon,
Accadde A,
Liliput, Liliput, Liliput, Liliput.
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.