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 France and from Portland.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Beau Brummels to the grime kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Archie Shepp. All the underground hits.
All Jandek tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Leonard Cohen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 synthesizer and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kevin Saunderson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Tubeway Army,
The Techniques,
Stereo Dub,
Swell Maps,
Marvin Gaye,
Shoche,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Trojans,
The Smiths,
Matthew Halsall,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Judy Mowatt,
Connie Case,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Japan,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Basic Channel,
Marcia Griffiths,
Swans,
Gregory Isaacs,
Harpers Bizarre,
Underground Resistance,
The Invisible,
Ossler,
Sun City Girls,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Aaron Thompson,
JFA,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
David Axelrod,
Warsaw,
K-Klass,
Rakim,
Fugazi,
Trumans Water,
This Heat,
Delta 5,
Lindisfarne,
Fatback Band,
Deepchord,
Flipper,
Sex Pistols,
Bobby Byrd,
Gang of Four,
the Swans,
Eurythmics,
Reagan Youth,
The Busters,
The Associates,
Rhythm & Sound,
Agitation Free,
Crime,
the Germs,
Monks,
LL Cool J,
Cal Tjader,
The Gories,
Sam Rivers,
Rapeman, Rapeman, Rapeman, Rapeman.
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.