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 Guinea and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 clarinet 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 the Swans 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 a-ha. All the underground hits.
All David Axelrod tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Agent Orange 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Techniques record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Flesh Eaters,
Byron Stingily,
The Shadows of Knight,
Robert Wyatt,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Youth Brigade,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Vainqueur,
Cybotron,
Television Personalities,
Intrusion,
Monks,
Cameo,
Patti Smith,
Chris Corsano,
Shuggie Otis,
In Retrospect,
The Trojans,
Easy Going,
Pantytec,
Camberwell Now,
the Germs,
Von Mondo,
Girls At Our Best!,
Gang of Four,
Technova,
Black Sheep,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Steve Hackett,
The Mojo Men,
The Victims,
Marc Almond,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Popol Vuh,
Yusef Lateef,
The Dirtbombs,
The Fugs,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ultimate Spinach,
Monolake,
Duran Duran,
Davy DMX,
Frankie Knuckles,
Kenny Larkin,
The Tremeloes,
Infiniti,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Fuzztones,
Mr. Review,
Television,
KRS-One,
Junior Murvin,
Dual Sessions,
The Velvet Underground,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Thee Headcoats,
Spoonie Gee,
John Lydon,
Suburban Knight,
Warren Ellis,
Black Moon,
Eden Ahbez,
Eurythmics, Eurythmics, Eurythmics, Eurythmics.
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.