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 Togo and from Manchester.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Brass Construction to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Henry Cow. All the underground hits.
All Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Zeros record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Fortunes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fugs,
Section 25,
Monolake,
Arab on Radar,
The Velvet Underground,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Brothers Johnson,
B.T. Express,
June Days,
Wasted Youth,
Erykah Badu,
The Sonics,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Seeds,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Davy DMX,
CMW,
The Stooges,
Unrelated Segments,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
In Retrospect,
OOIOO,
Kerri Chandler,
The Remains,
Tom Boy,
The Detroit Cobras,
Supertramp,
Lebanon Hanover,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Sound,
Ultravox,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
48th St. Collective,
Deadbeat,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Blancmange,
Barrington Levy,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Matthew Halsall,
Colin Newman,
Ponytail,
Surgeon,
Anakelly,
The Fire Engines,
Lightning Bolt,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Joyce Sims,
Lalann,
Adolescents,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Eurythmics,
The Gladiators,
The Motions,
Eric B and Rakim,
Model 500,
The Moleskins,
Gang Green,
The Gories,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers, Aloha Tigers.
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.