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 Gambia and from Edmonton.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the rhodes 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 Andrew Hill to the rock 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 John Foxx. All the underground hits.
All X-102 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Toasters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Osbourne record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Peter and Kerry,
Rod Modell,
Fela Kuti,
E-Dancer,
New York Dolls,
The Red Krayola,
Davy DMX,
Eric B and Rakim,
PIL,
Pussy Galore,
Ultra Naté,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Detroit Cobras,
Animal Collective,
Main Source,
AZ,
Colin Newman,
Michelle Simonal,
Faust,
The Slackers,
The Fortunes,
Sandy B,
Little Man,
Pagans,
Yaz,
Piero Umiliani,
The Golliwogs,
Juan Atkins,
The Monks,
DJ Sneak,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Arab on Radar,
Jeru the Damaja,
Metal Thangz,
Crash Course in Science,
Unwound,
London Community Gospel Choir,
ABBA,
Clear Light,
Lalann,
Skaos,
Electric Light Orchestra,
David McCallum,
Adolescents,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Ronnie Foster,
Stetsasonic,
Monolake,
Fluxion,
Slave,
The Sisters of Mercy,
John Coltrane,
The Cowsills,
The Toasters,
Das Ding,
Ituana,
Quantec,
Andrew Hill,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Count Five, The Count Five, The Count Five, The Count Five.
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.