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 Belarus and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1965.
I was there at the first Beefheart show in Lancaster.
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 1967 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and New York.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Moebius to the punk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 The Trojans. All the underground hits.
All Lalo Schifrin tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lucky Dragons record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s 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 Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Associates,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
DJ Sneak,
Rhythm & Sound,
Avey Tare,
Roxy Music,
Camberwell Now,
Dennis Brown,
Tropical Tobacco,
Metal Thangz,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Pole,
Mary Jane Girls,
Index,
Fad Gadget,
Desert Stars,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
AZ,
The Monks,
Lebanon Hanover,
Eli Mardock,
Roger Hodgson,
Fear,
The Tremeloes,
Eurythmics,
The Invisible,
The Gun Club,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The J.B.'s,
These Immortal Souls,
Ultimate Spinach,
Urselle,
Livin' Joy,
Boogie Down Productions,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Rites of Spring,
The Move,
Crispy Ambulance,
the Sonics,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Leaves,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Human League,
The Trojans,
June Days,
The Standells,
Niagra,
Funky Four + One,
Chris & Cosey,
Barrington Levy,
The Vogues,
Barbara Tucker,
Main Source,
Ten City,
Guru Guru,
Howard Jones,
Kool Moe Dee,
Shuggie Otis,
Sandy B,
Rekid,
Nirvana,
Leonard Cohen,
EPMD,
Brand Nubian,
Morten Harket, Morten Harket, Morten Harket, Morten Harket.
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.