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 Ghana and from Portland.
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 1962 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
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 N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Rekid. All the underground hits.
All Dennis Brown tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Blossom Toes 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a JFA record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Saccharine Trust,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Dennis Brown,
Lee Hazlewood,
Graham Central Station,
Khruangbin,
Peter & Gordon,
Matthew Halsall,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Motions,
Eddi Front,
A Certain Ratio,
U.S. Maple,
Gang of Four,
Leonard Cohen,
Bob Dylan,
The Vogues,
The Alarm Clocks,
Gong,
Fear,
Tomorrow,
Josef K,
Amazonics,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Warsaw,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Electric Prunes,
Robert Wyatt,
ABBA,
Dual Sessions,
Deakin,
Dawn Penn,
Black Flag,
Moss Icon,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Joy Division,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
KRS-One,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Vladislav Delay,
the Normal,
Silicon Teens,
Au Pairs,
Godley & Creme,
Sun City Girls,
Hoover,
Jeff Mills,
New Order,
Circle Jerks,
Kerrie Biddell,
Jawbox,
Lucky Dragons,
Terry Callier,
Supertramp,
Fela Kuti,
Connie Case,
Intrusion,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics.
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.