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 Australia and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 guitar 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 Steve Hackett to the grime 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 Sister Nancy. All the underground hits.
All Oblivians tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lightning Bolt 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Country Joe & The Fish record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marvin Gaye,
Curtis Mayfield,
Mad Mike,
Pagans,
Altered Images,
Yusef Lateef,
Amazonics,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Hardrive,
Hot Snakes,
Suburban Knight,
The Real Kids,
The Gun Club,
Black Bananas,
The American Breed,
Swell Maps,
Jandek,
Gong,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Fatback Band,
Leonard Cohen,
Y Pants,
Sam Rivers,
Black Sheep,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Yazoo,
Quadrant,
The Music Machine,
Nick Fraelich,
ABC,
Eric Dolphy,
Chris & Cosey,
Young Marble Giants,
Wally Richardson,
The Dave Clark Five,
Lee Hazlewood,
Radio Birdman,
Dawn Penn,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Delta 5,
Excepter,
Amon Düül II,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Brothers Johnson,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Saccharine Trust,
Agent Orange,
The Blackbyrds,
Warren Ellis,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Slick Rick,
Bauhaus,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Dead C,
The Slackers,
Mary Jane Girls,
Moss Icon,
Scion,
Moby Grape,
Guru Guru,
Popol Vuh,
8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy, 8 Eyed Spy.
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.