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 Botswana and from Toronto.
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 Glasgow and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Eve St. Jones to the jazz kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Dave Clark Five. All the underground hits.
All Anakelly tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Byron Stingily record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Osbourne record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Faust,
Erykah Badu,
Fatback Band,
Cluster,
Talk Talk,
Television Personalities,
Public Image Ltd.,
Smog,
UT,
Panda Bear,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Saccharine Trust,
The Smoke,
Bluetip,
Jandek,
10cc,
Masters at Work,
Magma,
Robert Görl,
Ludus,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Warren Ellis,
Mission of Burma,
The Kinks,
Joe Smooth,
John Foxx,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
the Human League,
Marshall Jefferson,
Faraquet,
Oblivians,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Boogie Down Productions,
Godley & Creme,
Babytalk,
Depeche Mode,
Soulsonic Force,
Charles Mingus,
MDC,
Mo-Dettes,
Althea and Donna,
Camouflage,
Metal Thangz,
Gabor Szabo,
Bizarre Inc.,
Inner City,
John Holt,
Joensuu 1685,
Theoretical Girls,
the Soft Cell,
Crooked Eye,
Jeff Lynne,
Roxette,
The Index,
AZ,
Anakelly,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Doors,
Rekid,
Colin Newman,
Neil Young,
T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex.
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.