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 Armenia and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1961 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 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 Japan to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 The Smoke. All the underground hits.
All Desert Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Janne Schatter record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dawn Penn record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Jandek,
Scan 7,
The Cramps,
Davy DMX,
Talk Talk,
Jacques Brel,
Michelle Simonal,
The Residents,
MC5,
Steve Hackett,
Howard Jones,
Surgeon,
Liliput,
Schoolly D,
Lalann,
Al Stewart,
Dark Day,
Harpers Bizarre,
Letta Mbulu,
Frankie Knuckles,
Warsaw,
Susan Cadogan,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
AZ,
Nils Olav,
John Lydon,
Skriet,
Lakeside,
Rakim,
Nation of Ulysses,
Soul II Soul,
David Bowie,
Pierre Henry,
Alice Coltrane,
Jacob Miller,
Piero Umiliani,
Danielle Patucci,
Q65,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Joey Negro,
Depeche Mode,
The Modern Lovers,
Subhumans,
Panda Bear,
Neu!,
Sonic Youth,
Cybotron,
Urselle,
Rapeman,
Jeff Mills,
Albert Ayler,
Flash Fearless,
Gang Gang Dance,
David McCallum,
Popol Vuh,
The Birthday Party,
Spoonie Gee,
Barbara Tucker,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
MDC,
Simply Red,
Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne.
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.