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 Turkmenistan and from Milan.
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 1967 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Country Teasers to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Radio Birdman. All the underground hits.
All Basic Channel tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joey Negro record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Divine Comedy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Radio Birdman,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Los Fastidios,
This Heat,
Excepter,
Carl Craig,
Cymande,
Neu!,
The Trojans,
Ultravox,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Neil Young,
Jesper Dahlback,
Magma,
Gang Starr,
Fat Boys,
Bobby Byrd,
Dave Gahan,
The Offenders,
Sun City Girls,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Qualms,
The Index,
Gang Gang Dance,
DJ Style,
The Star Department,
Johnny Osbourne,
Joe Smooth,
The Selecter,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Lakeside,
Man Eating Sloth,
Aaron Thompson,
the Germs,
Althea and Donna,
Severed Heads,
Bronski Beat,
New Age Steppers,
Boredoms,
CMW,
Bluetip,
Goldenarms,
The Knickerbockers,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Five Americans,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Wire,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Red Krayola,
Henry Cow,
Main Source,
The Barracudas,
The Names,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Y Pants,
The Motions,
The Shadows of Knight,
Ken Boothe,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players, Ohio Players.
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.