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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Lagos.
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 Accra and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Country Joe & The Fish to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Technova. All the underground hits.
All Aloha Tigers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kevin Saunderson 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mission of Burma record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Dirtbombs,
Jeru the Damaja,
Fugazi,
Lou Reed,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Cramps,
Delon & Dalcan,
Ralphi Rosario,
Depeche Mode,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
X-102,
Cal Tjader,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Alison Limerick,
The Litter,
Skriet,
Jimmy McGriff,
Eve St. Jones,
Unwound,
Susan Cadogan,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Marvin Gaye,
Grauzone,
Sonny Sharrock,
Joey Negro,
D'Angelo,
Jacob Miller,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Sex Pistols,
Bush Tetras,
Grey Daturas,
Oblivians,
Funkadelic,
Electric Prunes,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Quadrant,
Half Japanese,
Buzzcocks,
China Crisis,
Scion,
Camberwell Now,
Ituana,
Bad Manners,
Deadbeat,
Ornette Coleman,
Juan Atkins,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
F. McDonald,
Procol Harum,
Scratch Acid,
Jandek,
Dennis Brown,
Ice-T,
Ultimate Spinach,
Girls At Our Best!,
The Remains,
Desert Stars,
Pere Ubu,
Sound Behaviour,
The Kinks,
Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca, Glenn Branca.
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.