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 Djibouti and from Lille.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Monolake to the rap kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Ponytail. All the underground hits.
All Jandek tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Darondo 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 marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alton Ellis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rapeman,
Dave Gahan,
T.S.O.L.,
Procol Harum,
Joe Finger,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Victims,
Mr. Review,
Clear Light,
Ponytail,
Vladislav Delay,
Supertramp,
The Monochrome Set,
Magma,
Smog,
Faraquet,
The Modern Lovers,
Lalann,
Mars,
The Associates,
These Immortal Souls,
Cymande,
One Last Wish,
Nils Olav,
Carl Craig,
Barclay James Harvest,
Tom Boy,
Iggy Pop,
Joy Division,
Circle Jerks,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Parry Music,
Roxy Music,
Siglo XX,
John Holt,
Piero Umiliani,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Deakin,
Dorothy Ashby,
Icehouse,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Panda Bear,
U.S. Maple,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Lungfish,
Monolake,
Country Teasers,
Rhythm & Sound,
Oneida,
Scion,
Wally Richardson,
Gang of Four,
Babytalk,
Fear,
Yusef Lateef,
Dual Sessions,
10cc,
Popol Vuh,
Guru Guru,
Liliput,
Don Cherry,
AZ, AZ, AZ, AZ.
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.