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 Poland and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 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 Jawbox to the grunge 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 Holt. All the underground hits.
All Gang Starr tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every David Bowie record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Leaves record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Technova,
The Names,
The Cramps,
Soulsonic Force,
The Five Americans,
Adolescents,
Harpers Bizarre,
Mo-Dettes,
The Neon Judgement,
The Black Dice,
Second Layer,
Stetsasonic,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
DJ Sneak,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Sister Nancy,
Jeff Lynne,
Bizarre Inc.,
Johnny Osbourne,
Audionom,
Chris & Cosey,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Supertramp,
John Lydon,
T. Rex,
Wire,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Alarm Clocks,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Minutemen,
Crispian St. Peters,
Black Pus,
Eric Dolphy,
Pharoah Sanders,
Gastr Del Sol,
Rhythm & Sound,
Qualms,
Lungfish,
The Selecter,
KRS-One,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Bobby Byrd,
The Wake,
Kayak,
Rakim,
Minny Pops,
Brand Nubian,
Marshall Jefferson,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Gories,
CMW,
Fort Wilson Riot,
T.S.O.L.,
The Grass Roots,
Joy Division,
Neil Young,
Metal Thangz,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
the Association,
Newcleus, Newcleus, Newcleus, Newcleus.
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.