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 Togo and from Jakarta.
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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Blackbyrds to the dance 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 Masters at Work. All the underground hits.
All Mission of Burma tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every JFA record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 snare and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Clarke record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Slick Rick,
Khruangbin,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Mad Mike,
Deadbeat,
Kenny Larkin,
The Tremeloes,
Inner City,
Brand Nubian,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Marvin Gaye,
Minor Threat,
Audionom,
The Names,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Cure,
Throbbing Gristle,
Guru Guru,
Agitation Free,
Josef K,
Parry Music,
Vladislav Delay,
Faust,
Glambeats Corp.,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Severed Heads,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Yazoo,
Flipper,
Deakin,
Skarface,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Niagra,
Grey Daturas,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Can,
Carl Craig,
Icehouse,
Hoover,
Mantronix,
Tears for Fears,
the Association,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
FM Einheit,
John Lydon,
Ralphi Rosario,
Scan 7,
OOIOO,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
The Residents,
the Soft Cell,
Thompson Twins,
Sound Behaviour,
Zapp,
Magazine,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Infiniti,
Oneida,
The Blues Magoos,
Depeche Mode,
Nico,
Ossler, Ossler, Ossler, Ossler.
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.