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 Cape Verde and from Mumbai.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Amon Düül II to the disco kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Gil Scott Heron. All the underground hits.
All Simply Red tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Hood record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Drive Like Jehu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ultimate Spinach,
AZ,
Soft Machine,
Jacob Miller,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Five Americans,
the Germs,
Freddie Wadling,
Roy Ayers,
Rotary Connection,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Erykah Badu,
Skaos,
Don Cherry,
Vladislav Delay,
Roger Hodgson,
Brothers Johnson,
Procol Harum,
Motorama,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Bronski Beat,
Cal Tjader,
Matthew Halsall,
Blancmange,
Leonard Cohen,
Pantaleimon,
Ice-T,
Livin' Joy,
Jimmy McGriff,
Kayak,
Fela Kuti,
Fort Wilson Riot,
David Bowie,
Girls At Our Best!,
Reagan Youth,
Stereo Dub,
the Human League,
Khruangbin,
The Tremeloes,
Unwound,
The Saints,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Ronnie Foster,
Basic Channel,
Donald Byrd,
Eric Copeland,
Soul II Soul,
The Young Rascals,
Skarface,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Remains,
Gabor Szabo,
DNA,
KRS-One,
Trumans Water,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Chris & Cosey,
The Misunderstood,
Graham Central Station, Graham Central Station, Graham Central Station, Graham Central Station.
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.