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 Lagos.
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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Sound to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Joy Division. All the underground hits.
All Rahsaan Roland Kirk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Throbbing Gristle record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gong record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Talk Talk,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Subhumans,
Barbara Tucker,
The Pop Group,
X-Ray Spex,
Niagra,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
June Days,
Nas,
Soft Cell,
Peter and Kerry,
The Flesh Eaters,
Soul II Soul,
Siglo XX,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Anakelly,
kango's stein massive,
ABBA,
Blake Baxter,
Arab on Radar,
Depeche Mode,
Juan Atkins,
Eve St. Jones,
Kerri Chandler,
Sugar Minott,
A Certain Ratio,
Dave Gahan,
The Last Poets,
The New Christs,
Suicide,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Kas Product,
Amon Düül II,
Sun Ra,
The Evens,
Black Bananas,
cv313,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Blackbyrds,
Charles Mingus,
Sonny Sharrock,
K-Klass,
Bobby Byrd,
MDC,
Sandy B,
Wally Richardson,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Pulsallama,
The Smiths,
Groovy Waters,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
David McCallum,
Electric Prunes,
Ralphi Rosario,
Marc Almond,
The Black Dice,
Gichy Dan,
The Invisible,
Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen.
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.