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 Qatar and from Delhi.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 snare 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 The Saints to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All Idris Muhammad 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 dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ajijia Myrayebe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
MDC,
Connie Case,
Moby Grape,
Essential Logic,
Jeru the Damaja,
Maleditus Sound,
Minnie Riperton,
Glenn Branca,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Derrick Morgan,
Camberwell Now,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Groovy Waters,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Basic Channel,
Steve Hackett,
Barrington Levy,
Ultravox,
the Slits,
Country Teasers,
L. Decosne,
Spandau Ballet,
Jandek,
Peter & Gordon,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Birthday Party,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Soft Cell,
Alison Limerick,
Swans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
John Holt,
Davy DMX,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Eric B and Rakim,
Cheater Slicks,
Anakelly,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Doors,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Anthony Braxton,
The Victims,
Monks,
Piero Umiliani,
Pagans,
T. Rex,
Glambeats Corp.,
Cluster,
The Neon Judgement,
Sarah Menescal,
Gang Starr,
Circle Jerks,
The Smiths,
The Black Dice,
Make Up,
The Gladiators,
Royal Trux, Royal Trux, Royal Trux, Royal Trux.
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.