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 Swaziland and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Angels of Light & Akron/Family to the rap 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 Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines. All the underground hits.
All The Remains tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Freddie Wadling record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 a mellotron and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Essential Logic record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Agitation Free,
Max Romeo,
Newcleus,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Detroit Cobras,
Panda Bear,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Leaves,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Steve Hackett,
Warren Ellis,
Nik Kershaw,
Jeff Lynne,
MC5,
The American Breed,
Whodini,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Busters,
Bootsy Collins,
Jawbox,
Pole,
Aswad,
The Techniques,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
John Lydon,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Banda Bassotti,
Intrusion,
Clear Light,
Amon Düül II,
Metal Thangz,
The Barracudas,
Lee Hazlewood,
Radio Birdman,
Bronski Beat,
The Fortunes,
The Velvet Underground,
Interpol,
The Pop Group,
Masters at Work,
Susan Cadogan,
Audionom,
David Axelrod,
Glambeats Corp.,
One Last Wish,
Arab on Radar,
The Slits,
Patti Smith,
D'Angelo,
Half Japanese,
Sexual Harrassment,
Charles Mingus,
Janne Schatter,
the Soft Cell,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Radiopuhelimet,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Saints,
Dennis Brown,
Barrington Levy,
The Grass Roots,
Leonard Cohen,
Marine Girls, Marine Girls, Marine Girls, Marine Girls.
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.