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 Seoul.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 Donald Fagen 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 Leonard Cohen to the rap 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 10cc. All the underground hits.
All The Seeds tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Smog record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fat Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Alarm Clocks,
David Axelrod,
CMW,
The Searchers,
Nick Fraelich,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Crooked Eye,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Nik Kershaw,
Essential Logic,
Joyce Sims,
Graham Central Station,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Pharoah Sanders,
Gang Starr,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Junior Murvin,
Smog,
Agitation Free,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Mary Jane Girls,
David Bowie,
The Blackbyrds,
Ten City,
Avey Tare,
ABBA,
The Index,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Ornette Coleman,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Tommy Roe,
Spandau Ballet,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Moleskins,
Masters at Work,
Spoonie Gee,
The Mojo Men,
Barbara Tucker,
Quantec,
Chris Corsano,
Wings,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Barry Ungar,
Oneida,
The Techniques,
The Walker Brothers,
Patti Smith,
Cluster,
Popol Vuh,
Lou Reed,
Lee Hazlewood,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
One Last Wish,
Zapp,
The Associates,
E-Dancer,
Charles Mingus,
The Doobie Brothers,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin, Kenny Larkin.
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.