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 Tonga and from Stockholm.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and New York.
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 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 FM Einheit to the disco kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Stetsasonic. All the underground hits.
All Roy Ayers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slackers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Howard Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Toasters,
LL Cool J,
Glenn Branca,
Monolake,
Banda Bassotti,
Carl Craig,
Hasil Adkins,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Gregory Isaacs,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Echospace,
Danielle Patucci,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Excepter,
Popol Vuh,
Minnie Riperton,
The Names,
Public Enemy,
Gang Gang Dance,
Mission of Burma,
Marine Girls,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Warsaw,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Tim Buckley,
Fear,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Vogues,
The Pop Group,
The Zeros,
The Happenings,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Brand Nubian,
Darondo,
Mars,
kango's stein massive,
Supertramp,
The Count Five,
Buzzcocks,
Yellowson,
Rotary Connection,
Grauzone,
Josef K,
Gang Starr,
These Immortal Souls,
Rufus Thomas,
Freddie Wadling,
The Star Department,
Cal Tjader,
Al Stewart,
Moebius,
Roxy Music,
Gang of Four,
Pantytec,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Residents,
Soulsonic Force,
Jimmy McGriff,
Blossom Toes, Blossom Toes, Blossom Toes, Blossom Toes.
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.