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 Jamaica and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Rahsaan Roland Kirk to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Black Pus. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Leaves 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a These Immortal Souls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Blackbyrds,
The Raincoats,
Siglo XX,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Alison Limerick,
The J.B.'s,
Tears for Fears,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Khruangbin,
Piero Umiliani,
Janne Schatter,
Symarip,
The Electric Prunes,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Agent Orange,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Marc Almond,
Rotary Connection,
Mantronix,
Al Stewart,
The Saints,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Walker Brothers,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Aaron Thompson,
Aloha Tigers,
48th St. Collective,
Pole,
Gang of Four,
New Age Steppers,
Gong,
Fort Wilson Riot,
U.S. Maple,
ABC,
Roxette,
Second Layer,
Charles Mingus,
the Slits,
Loose Ends,
Robert Görl,
Nick Fraelich,
KRS-One,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Blossom Toes,
Niagra,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
X-Ray Spex,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Icehouse,
Neu!,
Spandau Ballet,
David Axelrod,
Fat Boys,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Music Machine,
Ohio Players,
T.S.O.L.,
John Coltrane,
a-ha,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band.
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.