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 Malawi and from Madrid.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Misunderstood to the rock 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 A Flock of Seagulls. All the underground hits.
All Larry & the Blue Notes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Donny Hathaway 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 guitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Donald Byrd record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Animal Collective,
Archie Shepp,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Unrelated Segments,
Livin' Joy,
Massinfluence,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Supertramp,
Stetsasonic,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Litter,
Pet Shop Boys,
Marmalade,
Masters at Work,
Marcia Griffiths,
Jawbox,
DNA,
Rufus Thomas,
James White and The Blacks,
The Sound,
Alice Coltrane,
Sandy B,
Television Personalities,
Chris & Cosey,
Bill Near,
Isaac Hayes,
Newcleus,
Harpers Bizarre,
Yellowson,
The United States of America,
The Music Machine,
The Electric Prunes,
Siglo XX,
Bronski Beat,
DJ Style,
The Residents,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Ponytail,
Jeff Lynne,
Essential Logic,
Charles Mingus,
Altered Images,
Quadrant,
The Slits,
The Fugs,
Nils Olav,
Shuggie Otis,
Deadbeat,
Prince Buster,
Radiopuhelimet,
Anthony Braxton,
Q65,
The Barracudas,
Letta Mbulu,
Warren Ellis,
The Gories,
The Shadows of Knight,
Procol Harum,
Deepchord,
Tommy Roe,
Big Daddy Kane,
Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins.
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.