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 Bolivia and from Milan.
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 1965 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Rhythm & Sound to the techno 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 Bang on a Can All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All The Zeros tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alison Limerick record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brand Nubian record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soft Machine,
Hashim,
The Angels of Light,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Groovy Waters,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Underground Resistance,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
E-Dancer,
Sam Rivers,
Todd Rundgren,
David McCallum,
the Soft Cell,
The Fire Engines,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Tim Buckley,
Stiv Bators,
Sugar Minott,
The Sonics,
Rod Modell,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Gichy Dan,
Lucky Dragons,
The Victims,
Jesper Dahlback,
Sight & Sound,
The Doobie Brothers,
Dual Sessions,
Morten Harket,
Pantytec,
Make Up,
Rosa Yemen,
Jimmy McGriff,
Ohio Players,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Cramps,
Rakim,
Sällskapet,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Adolescents,
Wally Richardson,
JFA,
Sarah Menescal,
Public Enemy,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Matthew Bourne,
Terry Callier,
Main Source,
Talk Talk,
World's Most,
Man Parrish,
Hasil Adkins,
Bizarre Inc.,
Minny Pops,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Saccharine Trust,
Henry Cow, Henry Cow, Henry Cow, Henry Cow.
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.