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 Burundi and from Manchester.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the linndrum 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 The Fortunes to the funk 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 Unwound. All the underground hits.
All Lower 48 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Zapp 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Junior Murvin record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Interpol,
Fat Boys,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Oneida,
Crispian St. Peters,
Guru Guru,
These Immortal Souls,
Groovy Waters,
Amon Düül,
Quantec,
Chrome,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Q and Not U,
Graham Central Station,
The Birthday Party,
Tomorrow,
Albert Ayler,
Alphaville,
Gichy Dan,
James White and The Blacks,
Rotary Connection,
Roger Hodgson,
Bobby Sherman,
Eddi Front,
The Searchers,
The Fire Engines,
Ponytail,
Colin Newman,
Isaac Hayes,
June of 44,
Brand Nubian,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Yellowson,
10cc,
John Holt,
Donald Byrd,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
T.S.O.L.,
Basic Channel,
Erasure,
Faust,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Charles Mingus,
Robert Görl,
Ornette Coleman,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Detroit Cobras,
New Age Steppers,
The Five Americans,
Newcleus,
Heaven 17,
Ludus,
The J.B.'s,
Freddie Wadling,
Aural Exciters,
The Buckinghams,
Lakeside,
Eric B and Rakim,
Robert Wyatt,
The Move,
Sight & Sound,
Scrapy,
DJ Sneak,
Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant.
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.