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 Sierra Leone and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Paris.
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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Flipper to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Monochrome Set. All the underground hits.
All Flamin' Groovies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Soul II Soul record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lebanon Hanover record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gregory Isaacs,
June of 44,
Barbara Tucker,
Black Sheep,
Kurtis Blow,
Soft Machine,
Mary Jane Girls,
Radiohead,
Mission of Burma,
Nils Olav,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Graham Central Station,
Radio Birdman,
The Human League,
Talk Talk,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Crispian St. Peters,
Suburban Knight,
Mars,
Parry Music,
Pierre Henry,
T. Rex,
Eurythmics,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Sugar Minott,
Banda Bassotti,
The Smiths,
Mo-Dettes,
Unwound,
Skriet,
The Doors,
Wire,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Intrusion,
Marc Almond,
The Flesh Eaters,
Moby Grape,
The Count Five,
the Association,
The Pop Group,
Chris & Cosey,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Black Bananas,
Pussy Galore,
Letta Mbulu,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Gichy Dan,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Con Funk Shun,
Roxette,
Fad Gadget,
Pantytec,
The Music Machine,
Don Cherry,
Alphaville,
Heaven 17,
The Fortunes,
The Selecter, The Selecter, The Selecter, The Selecter.
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.