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 Azerbaijan and from Mumbai.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 John Cale to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Man Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ornette Coleman 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bad Manners record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Black Sheep,
the Swans,
Roy Ayers,
The Seeds,
Archie Shepp,
Roger Hodgson,
8 Eyed Spy,
John Coltrane,
Yellowson,
T.S.O.L.,
Dorothy Ashby,
Zero Boys,
Unrelated Segments,
Dead Boys,
Ten City,
Drive Like Jehu,
Grauzone,
The Evens,
Can,
The Move,
Organ,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Popol Vuh,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Curtis Mayfield,
Harry Pussy,
Metal Thangz,
Lou Christie,
Scion,
Bobby Byrd,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Index,
Skarface,
Q and Not U,
Jeru the Damaja,
Bobby Sherman,
Ludus,
The Fire Engines,
Max Romeo,
Crime,
Freddie Wadling,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Alton Ellis,
Monks,
Royal Trux,
Make Up,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Knickerbockers,
Sex Pistols,
Cluster,
Leonard Cohen,
Bizarre Inc.,
Barbara Tucker,
Niagra,
The Pretty Things,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Whodini,
Judy Mowatt,
Blancmange,
Neu!, Neu!, Neu!, Neu!.
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.