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 Cape Verde and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 808 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 Lightning Bolt to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Byron Stingily. All the underground hits.
All Whodini tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soft Cell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Young Marble Giants,
Aaron Thompson,
Flash Fearless,
Henry Cow,
Agent Orange,
The Fortunes,
This Heat,
Technova,
Essential Logic,
Main Source,
Pulsallama,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Terry Callier,
Sonny Sharrock,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Ultimate Spinach,
Theoretical Girls,
Prince Buster,
Monolake,
The American Breed,
John Cale,
Desert Stars,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Jawbox,
The Residents,
Iggy Pop,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Scan 7,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Buckinghams,
Cameo,
Dennis Brown,
Chris Corsano,
The Black Dice,
Black Moon,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Kerri Chandler,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Anakelly,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Amazonics,
Kevin Saunderson,
Model 500,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Associates,
Television,
The Barracudas,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Stooges,
The Count Five,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Half Japanese,
The Happenings,
The Golliwogs,
Derrick May,
Unrelated Segments,
Nick Fraelich,
Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick.
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.