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 Lesotho and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 oboe 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 Wasted Youth to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 L. Decosne. All the underground hits.
All Angry Samoans tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Icehouse 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kas Product,
Blake Baxter,
Matthew Halsall,
F. McDonald,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Brick,
Grauzone,
D'Angelo,
Slick Rick,
Drive Like Jehu,
Trumans Water,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Sexual Harrassment,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Leaves,
Pet Shop Boys,
Hashim,
Maleditus Sound,
The Index,
Niagra,
The Misunderstood,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Detroit Cobras,
the Germs,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Kaleidoscope,
Josef K,
The Last Poets,
Aural Exciters,
The Slits,
Peter and Kerry,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Dirtbombs,
Gabor Szabo,
The Toasters,
Scott Walker,
Adolescents,
The Gun Club,
Kurtis Blow,
the Association,
Minutemen,
Fatback Band,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
K-Klass,
Pulsallama,
Aloha Tigers,
Connie Case,
David Bowie,
Stereo Dub,
The Raincoats,
The Pretty Things,
Warren Ellis,
Tim Buckley,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Darondo,
Wire,
A Certain Ratio,
The Electric Prunes,
Surgeon,
The Divine Comedy,
Ultravox,
Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs.
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.