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 Tuvalu and from Spokane.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 X-101 to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Jandek. All the underground hits.
All Matthew Halsall tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kings Of Tomorrow 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eve St. Jones record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Skatalites,
Avey Tare,
L. Decosne,
The Saints,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Index,
Quadrant,
Au Pairs,
The Pretty Things,
Scott Walker,
Kaleidoscope,
Beasts of Bourbon,
E-Dancer,
Grandmaster Flash,
Bootsy Collins,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Vogues,
Eurythmics,
Dennis Brown,
Altered Images,
The Monks,
Bizarre Inc.,
Sarah Menescal,
The Electric Prunes,
The Barracudas,
Zero Boys,
Buzzcocks,
Amon Düül,
Deepchord,
Boz Scaggs,
The Velvet Underground,
Von Mondo,
JFA,
Arab on Radar,
The Walker Brothers,
The Fall,
Todd Rundgren,
Danielle Patucci,
Metal Thangz,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
UT,
the Human League,
The Toasters,
Minny Pops,
Yusef Lateef,
Pere Ubu,
Max Romeo,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Tubeway Army,
The Modern Lovers,
The Buckinghams,
The Star Department,
Yazoo,
Slick Rick,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Marc Almond,
Mary Jane Girls,
Sister Nancy,
Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield.
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.