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 Bulgaria and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 sitar 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 Selector Dub Narcotic to the rock kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 La Düsseldorf. All the underground hits.
All Jeru the Damaja tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Judy Mowatt record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 sitar and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mr. Review record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet 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?
The Human League,
Pere Ubu,
Tommy Roe,
Jimmy McGriff,
Wally Richardson,
Andrew Hill,
The Leaves,
Heaven 17,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Cowsills,
Jandek,
Todd Terry,
Rod Modell,
The Monochrome Set,
Cameo,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sällskapet,
Rosa Yemen,
Malaria!,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Magazine,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Busters,
Pantaleimon,
Glambeats Corp.,
Ultra Naté,
A Certain Ratio,
Gang of Four,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Das Ding,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Gong,
Freddie Wadling,
Avey Tare,
Liliput,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Aaron Thompson,
Dennis Brown,
CMW,
Outsiders,
Kas Product,
Flipper,
Echospace,
Sonic Youth,
Soul II Soul,
Youth Brigade,
Saccharine Trust,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Make Up,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Throbbing Gristle,
Vainqueur,
Blossom Toes,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Sister Nancy,
Harmonia,
Panda Bear,
Zapp,
Sandy B,
Kerrie Biddell,
Arthur Verocai,
Organ,
Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D.
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.