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 Mauritania 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 1969 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the marimba 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 Liliput 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 Deepchord. All the underground hits.
All Moss Icon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Colin Newman 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 '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 Piero Umiliani record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roy Ayers,
Camouflage,
MC5,
Intrusion,
the Swans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Khruangbin,
Scan 7,
Bill Near,
Wolf Eyes,
Nik Kershaw,
Symarip,
Babytalk,
The Fire Engines,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Sam Rivers,
Robert Wyatt,
Yellowson,
Suicide,
Moby Grape,
Easy Going,
Marc Almond,
Mission of Burma,
John Lydon,
Flash Fearless,
Aswad,
Eden Ahbez,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Grauzone,
Massinfluence,
Eve St. Jones,
Traffic Nightmare,
Tomorrow,
K-Klass,
Darondo,
LL Cool J,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Dave Clark Five,
Nirvana,
Kerri Chandler,
New Order,
Soft Cell,
Masters at Work,
The Toasters,
Stiv Bators,
Davy DMX,
Quantec,
10cc,
Little Man,
Porter Ricks,
Spandau Ballet,
ABC,
The Red Krayola,
Iggy Pop,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Todd Terry,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
the Sonics,
Pantytec,
The Grass Roots,
The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground.
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.