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 Samoa and from Accra.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Fugazi 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 Ornette Coleman. All the underground hits.
All Jandek tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Brand Nubian record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soul Sonic Force record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Motions,
Yaz,
The Dirtbombs,
Icehouse,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Lakeside,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Duran Duran,
The Music Machine,
Eve St. Jones,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Cramps,
Mad Mike,
The Fire Engines,
Zero Boys,
Flamin' Groovies,
Au Pairs,
Althea and Donna,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Adolescents,
Robert Wyatt,
The Offenders,
Gong,
Jacob Miller,
Dennis Brown,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Move,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Glambeats Corp.,
Loose Ends,
Fad Gadget,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Fela Kuti,
Crash Course in Science,
Flash Fearless,
Magazine,
Ronnie Foster,
Television,
Lindisfarne,
Gastr Del Sol,
Dave Gahan,
Laurel Aitken,
Rites of Spring,
The Evens,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Skaos,
Crime,
Scott Walker,
The Misunderstood,
The Smiths,
The Last Poets,
In Retrospect,
Pagans,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Crispy Ambulance,
Rhythm & Sound,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Harmonia,
Funkadelic,
Shuggie Otis,
Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe.
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.