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 Greece and from Lyon.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Crash Course in Science to the electroclash 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 Nik Kershaw. All the underground hits.
All Lalo Schifrin tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rufus Thomas 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Prince Buster record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Smog,
The Fugs,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Al Stewart,
Banda Bassotti,
The Names,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Mr. Review,
Soul II Soul,
Matthew Bourne,
Steve Hackett,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Eric B and Rakim,
Pylon,
Max Romeo,
Depeche Mode,
Wings,
Warsaw,
The Gap Band,
John Holt,
Hoover,
Skriet,
X-Ray Spex,
Agent Orange,
Animal Collective,
Man Parrish,
Lucky Dragons,
Cheater Slicks,
Kas Product,
Minor Threat,
One Last Wish,
Malaria!,
Gerry Rafferty,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Rekid,
Rakim,
James White and The Blacks,
the Association,
Eric Dolphy,
The Kinks,
Piero Umiliani,
Harpers Bizarre,
Ossler,
Mars,
The Remains,
Joey Negro,
The Mummies,
Neu!,
These Immortal Souls,
The Cramps,
Mandrill,
The New Christs,
Eli Mardock,
Lou Reed,
Jacob Miller,
The Pop Group,
Bill Wells,
Andrew Hill,
Radiohead,
Unwound, Unwound, Unwound, Unwound.
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.