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 Taiwan and from Woodstock.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel to the techno 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 Absolute Body Control. All the underground hits.
All Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joensuu 1685 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wings record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare,
Kayak,
Ronan,
Moebius,
Albert Ayler,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Tres Demented,
Das Ding,
Colin Newman,
Gabor Szabo,
Massinfluence,
Scott Walker,
the Fania All-Stars,
Lungfish,
New Order,
Don Cherry,
Marmalade,
Kerri Chandler,
Traffic Nightmare,
Echospace,
Mr. Review,
Angry Samoans,
Public Image Ltd.,
Buzzcocks,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Mad Mike,
Underground Resistance,
John Cale,
Laurel Aitken,
Lucky Dragons,
The Happenings,
The Walker Brothers,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Monolake,
Chris Corsano,
Circle Jerks,
Nik Kershaw,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Eric Copeland,
Lindisfarne,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Fluxion,
Derrick Morgan,
The New Christs,
Oblivians,
Motorama,
Black Moon,
10cc,
Tom Boy,
Scrapy,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Nirvana,
Erasure,
The Sound,
Pussy Galore,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Dennis Brown,
Symarip,
Ludus,
The Red Krayola,
Technova,
Lightning Bolt,
Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus.
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.