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 Qatar and from Milan.
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 1965 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 clarinet 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 Stockholm Monsters to the grime 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 Anakelly. All the underground hits.
All Sonic Youth tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every MDC 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Misunderstood record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Derrick May,
Dorothy Ashby,
Sparks,
Minutemen,
June Days,
Bill Wells,
Matthew Bourne,
Joy Division,
Make Up,
The Names,
The Trojans,
Nation of Ulysses,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Lou Christie,
Mantronix,
Nas,
Television,
Chris Corsano,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Scrapy,
Intrusion,
Kenny Larkin,
Gastr Del Sol,
Dave Gahan,
Jacob Miller,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Archie Shepp,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Gerry Rafferty,
Sister Nancy,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Durutti Column,
The Smiths,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Deepchord,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Scratch Acid,
The Toasters,
Grandmaster Flash,
Funky Four + One,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Avey Tare,
Marc Almond,
Bill Near,
Kerri Chandler,
Parry Music,
Franke,
The Searchers,
Oneida,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Detroit Cobras,
Prince Buster,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Alphaville,
Babytalk,
Skarface,
Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman.
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.