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 Nigeria and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Black Moon to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Eli Mardock. All the underground hits.
All E-Dancer tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sly & The Family Stone record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tubeway Army record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Royal Trux,
The Gap Band,
The Human League,
The Doobie Brothers,
Stetsasonic,
Sarah Menescal,
Altered Images,
Maleditus Sound,
Cluster,
The Zeros,
Pussy Galore,
Tomorrow,
Marc Almond,
AZ,
Niagra,
Flamin' Groovies,
Television Personalities,
Dorothy Ashby,
Bootsy Collins,
Guru Guru,
Pierre Henry,
Sun Ra,
John Lydon,
Crooked Eye,
R.M.O.,
Liliput,
In Retrospect,
Hasil Adkins,
Television,
Sugar Minott,
Banda Bassotti,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Invisible,
The Monks,
Ten City,
Radio Birdman,
Pagans,
Joe Smooth,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Minor Threat,
Glambeats Corp.,
Japan,
Magazine,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Slackers,
Josef K,
The Slits,
Jacques Brel,
Little Man,
Lebanon Hanover,
Organ,
The Birthday Party,
Lou Christie,
Nico,
Adolescents,
The United States of America,
Sandy B,
Inner City,
Lalann,
Connie Case,
Jerry Gold Smith, Jerry Gold Smith, Jerry Gold Smith, Jerry Gold Smith.
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.