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 Guatemala and from Johannesburg.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the güiro 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 Altered Images to the rock 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 Lalann. All the underground hits.
All Unwound tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wasted Youth record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Royal Trux record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Marmalade,
Mo-Dettes,
Fear,
Gregory Isaacs,
Sonic Youth,
Barbara Tucker,
Nik Kershaw,
Jandek,
The Red Krayola,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Marvin Gaye,
Pulsallama,
Prince Buster,
Aloha Tigers,
Soulsonic Force,
Hoover,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The United States of America,
Anthony Braxton,
The Motions,
Ken Boothe,
Young Marble Giants,
The Barracudas,
Fugazi,
Camouflage,
Skarface,
Terry Callier,
The Martian,
Zero Boys,
The Young Rascals,
Zapp,
Thee Headcoats,
Brand Nubian,
Agitation Free,
Magazine,
Royal Trux,
Chris & Cosey,
Alton Ellis,
The Seeds,
Marine Girls,
Deepchord,
Cheater Slicks,
June Days,
Liliput,
Eve St. Jones,
Lightning Bolt,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Bizarre Inc.,
Echospace,
Das Ding,
The Pop Group,
Faraquet,
Alphaville,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Negative Approach,
Delta 5,
The Mummies,
Nirvana,
Josef K, Josef K, Josef K, Josef K.
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.