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 Guatemala and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 John Holt to the jazz kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Busters. All the underground hits.
All Skarface tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Morten Harket 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Skatalites record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bronski Beat,
Todd Terry,
Cal Tjader,
Black Bananas,
Jacques Brel,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Frankie Knuckles,
Colin Newman,
Negative Approach,
Boogie Down Productions,
Japan,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Shadows of Knight,
the Slits,
Lou Reed,
Yusef Lateef,
Desert Stars,
Smog,
Flipper,
Camberwell Now,
The Trojans,
Morten Harket,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Lalann,
A Flock of Seagulls,
David Bowie,
Glenn Branca,
The Residents,
Laurel Aitken,
Agitation Free,
Radiohead,
Black Pus,
The Searchers,
Henry Cow,
Adolescents,
Lower 48,
Letta Mbulu,
OOIOO,
Joensuu 1685,
Bluetip,
Isaac Hayes,
Gerry Rafferty,
Procol Harum,
Ten City,
Johnny Osbourne,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Ultravox,
Soul Sonic Force,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
K-Klass,
Moss Icon,
Ludus,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Wolf Eyes,
Barrington Levy,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Gong,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Tomorrow,
Duran Duran,
Throbbing Gristle, Throbbing Gristle, Throbbing Gristle, Throbbing Gristle.
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.