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 Liberia and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 UT to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Magma. All the underground hits.
All Lou Reed & Metallica tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Harmonia 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jimmy McGriff record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Urselle,
The Monochrome Set,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Pantytec,
Kayak,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Robert Wyatt,
Moss Icon,
the Soft Cell,
Al Stewart,
Suburban Knight,
The Last Poets,
Fugazi,
The Star Department,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Scion,
The Neon Judgement,
Trumans Water,
Todd Terry,
Oblivians,
Letta Mbulu,
Marvin Gaye,
D'Angelo,
the Slits,
Jawbox,
Juan Atkins,
The Happenings,
The Tremeloes,
The Smoke,
Duran Duran,
Bobby Byrd,
Porter Ricks,
Marshall Jefferson,
MDC,
Liliput,
Carl Craig,
Kool Moe Dee,
Gang of Four,
Siglo XX,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Grass Roots,
Quantec,
Chrome,
Stiv Bators,
Jerry's Kids,
Guru Guru,
Fat Boys,
The Dead C,
Dave Gahan,
Zapp,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Graham Central Station,
The Evens,
UT,
Eddi Front,
Procol Harum,
Thompson Twins,
Rufus Thomas,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Gladiators,
Aloha Tigers,
Ohio Players,
Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman.
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.