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 Chile 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 1965 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the snare 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 Duran Duran to the crunk 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 Colin Newman. All the underground hits.
All Liliput tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Stiv Bators record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sunsets and Hearts record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nik Kershaw,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Barrington Levy,
Sarah Menescal,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Count Five,
Pussy Galore,
Au Pairs,
Erasure,
Pantytec,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Trojans,
8 Eyed Spy,
ABC,
The Skatalites,
Marvin Gaye,
Minny Pops,
Bob Dylan,
Inner City,
The Offenders,
Can,
PIL,
Eve St. Jones,
The Moody Blues,
Sonic Youth,
Faraquet,
Brothers Johnson,
Marmalade,
The Mummies,
A Certain Ratio,
Depeche Mode,
Joensuu 1685,
Camberwell Now,
Saccharine Trust,
Andrew Hill,
The Shadows of Knight,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Model 500,
Bluetip,
Dave Gahan,
The Walker Brothers,
The Remains,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
John Lydon,
Subhumans,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
John Cale,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Beau Brummels,
Nirvana,
The Motions,
Fatback Band,
Monolake,
The New Christs,
Scientists,
The Litter,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The United States of America,
DNA, DNA, DNA, DNA.
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.