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 Vietnam and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 mellotron 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 The Gladiators to the techno 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 Quadrant. All the underground hits.
All Spoonie Gee tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pylon 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric Copeland record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Absolute Body Control,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Lucky Dragons,
Minnie Riperton,
Thompson Twins,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Skaos,
Henry Cow,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Organ,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Shuggie Otis,
Bad Manners,
Brass Construction,
Youth Brigade,
Max Romeo,
Rapeman,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Gang Starr,
Smog,
John Coltrane,
Kenny Larkin,
Jeff Mills,
Adolescents,
Theoretical Girls,
The Pop Group,
Man Eating Sloth,
Black Bananas,
Lower 48,
Cluster,
Panda Bear,
Quando Quango,
Bluetip,
Stetsasonic,
Aaron Thompson,
Crooked Eye,
Lou Reed,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Scientists,
In Retrospect,
The Selecter,
John Lydon,
A Certain Ratio,
Spandau Ballet,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Livin' Joy,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Black Dice,
Joe Finger,
Ultra Naté,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Davy DMX,
Visage,
The Fugs,
Pharoah Sanders,
Pantaleimon,
Scion,
James White and The Blacks,
Gregory Isaacs,
LL Cool J, LL Cool J, LL Cool J, LL Cool J.
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.