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 Morocco and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 guitar 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 Eve St. Jones 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 Human League. All the underground hits.
All The Royal Family And The Poor tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Colin Newman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sarah Menescal,
Junior Murvin,
Glenn Branca,
Cal Tjader,
Bootsy Collins,
Joey Negro,
Ken Boothe,
Graham Central Station,
Symarip,
Johnny Osbourne,
Newcleus,
Gong,
Tubeway Army,
Pharoah Sanders,
Hardrive,
X-102,
The Moody Blues,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Move,
Colin Newman,
June Days,
Josef K,
Cybotron,
The Doors,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Smiths,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Motorama,
Mantronix,
Bronski Beat,
Reuben Wilson,
Tomorrow,
Buzzcocks,
Roxy Music,
Terry Callier,
Joe Smooth,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Whodini,
Agitation Free,
Aloha Tigers,
Simply Red,
Stockholm Monsters,
The Remains,
Juan Atkins,
Technova,
Pole,
Tears for Fears,
10cc,
Black Pus,
David McCallum,
Jacques Brel,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Litter,
Judy Mowatt,
Ronnie Foster,
Massinfluence,
Dark Day,
Scientists,
Rod Modell,
Dennis Brown,
MDC,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Sixth Finger,
The Gladiators,
Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot, Fort Wilson Riot.
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.