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 Solomon Islands and from Copenhagen.
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 1968 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Mumbai.
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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Velvet Underground to the disco kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 MDC. All the underground hits.
All Interpol tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oneida record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Goldenarms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Girls At Our Best!,
Aural Exciters,
Gang of Four,
John Holt,
Eric Copeland,
Fear,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Lakeside,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Bobby Womack,
New Age Steppers,
Mantronix,
The Barracudas,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
kango's stein massive,
Kool Moe Dee,
Suicide,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Harry Pussy,
The Searchers,
Ronan,
China Crisis,
Bronski Beat,
Lyres,
T.S.O.L.,
Scion,
The Flesh Eaters,
Panda Bear,
Brothers Johnson,
Clear Light,
Echospace,
Max Romeo,
Althea and Donna,
X-101,
Tubeway Army,
The Slackers,
New Order,
Monolake,
Davy DMX,
the Bar-Kays,
Kerrie Biddell,
Don Cherry,
Guru Guru,
Rakim,
Cameo,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Roger Hodgson,
Minnie Riperton,
Dorothy Ashby,
Boredoms,
Kenny Larkin,
Crime,
Morten Harket,
Reagan Youth,
Scratch Acid,
Subhumans,
Ornette Coleman,
Absolute Body Control,
Rites of Spring,
James White and The Blacks,
Bluetip,
Michelle Simonal, Michelle Simonal, Michelle Simonal, Michelle Simonal.
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.