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 Papua New Guinea and from Johannesburg.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Bill Near to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Nico. All the underground hits.
All Ohio Players tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Richard Hell and the Voidoids record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Foxx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jerry's Kids,
Black Pus,
Con Funk Shun,
Sonny Sharrock,
Inner City,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Motorama,
a-ha,
Mad Mike,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Electric Prunes,
Prince Buster,
Crispian St. Peters,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Smog,
Spandau Ballet,
The Pretty Things,
Jawbox,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Ken Boothe,
Clear Light,
Patti Smith,
Rhythm & Sound,
Joyce Sims,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
The Wake,
Marine Girls,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Laurel Aitken,
John Foxx,
Ice-T,
Hashim,
Kurtis Blow,
Silicon Teens,
Al Stewart,
The Saints,
The Techniques,
The Human League,
Kerri Chandler,
Eden Ahbez,
Jacques Brel,
Don Cherry,
Sixth Finger,
the Normal,
Nas,
Eric Copeland,
The Busters,
Bill Near,
Godley & Creme,
Infiniti,
The Barracudas,
D'Angelo,
Michelle Simonal,
UT,
Reuben Wilson,
Iggy Pop,
Pole,
Sam Rivers,
Negative Approach,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
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.