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 Guinea and from Tehran.
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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Robert Görl to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 David Bowie. All the underground hits.
All Bizarre Inc. tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fall record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang On A Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lebanon Hanover,
Soft Cell,
Grauzone,
Brand Nubian,
Interpol,
Peter and Kerry,
The Motions,
Zero Boys,
Jimmy McGriff,
Carl Craig,
Ice-T,
Thee Headcoats,
Bad Manners,
X-102,
The Electric Prunes,
Blancmange,
Deakin,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Barry Ungar,
Shuggie Otis,
Howard Jones,
Gastr Del Sol,
Lindisfarne,
Radiohead,
La Düsseldorf,
Depeche Mode,
E-Dancer,
Ornette Coleman,
Gil Scott Heron,
Outsiders,
Erasure,
Soft Machine,
The Dave Clark Five,
Bush Tetras,
Moss Icon,
kango's stein massive,
Eric B and Rakim,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Lakeside,
Malaria!,
Swell Maps,
Black Moon,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Rites of Spring,
Crime,
Desert Stars,
Eve St. Jones,
Cymande,
Joey Negro,
Royal Trux,
The Move,
Aloha Tigers,
Derrick May,
Easy Going,
Soul II Soul,
Freddie Wadling,
F. McDonald,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Birthday Party,
Tears for Fears,
Soulsonic Force,
Kool Moe Dee,
Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson.
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.