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 Antigua and from Lille.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson to the techno 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 June Days. All the underground hits.
All Oneida tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Porter Ricks 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Arthur Verocai,
Terry Callier,
Davy DMX,
the Human League,
CMW,
Agitation Free,
The Leaves,
Scott Walker,
Gang of Four,
the Soft Cell,
Aloha Tigers,
Section 25,
Jerry's Kids,
Delta 5,
Pierre Henry,
The Seeds,
Pylon,
Slave,
Carl Craig,
The Motions,
Scan 7,
Yellowson,
Althea and Donna,
Pulsallama,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Skatalites,
Dennis Brown,
Talk Talk,
Iggy Pop,
L. Decosne,
Cecil Taylor,
Ultimate Spinach,
Magazine,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Sonic Youth,
The Fall,
The J.B.'s,
X-Ray Spex,
Junior Murvin,
K-Klass,
Donald Byrd,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Cramps,
Kerrie Biddell,
Jandek,
Severed Heads,
Cameo,
Negative Approach,
The Busters,
Subhumans,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Ludus,
David Axelrod,
Gastr Del Sol,
Alice Coltrane,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Franke,
Robert Wyatt,
Accadde A,
Traffic Nightmare,
Thee Headcoats,
The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party, The Birthday Party.
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.