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 Spain and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Cairo.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Derrick Morgan to the techno kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Grandmaster Flash. All the underground hits.
All Siglo XX tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Metal Thangz record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 marimba and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Teenage Jesus and the Jerks 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?
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Don Cherry,
Iggy Pop,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
ABBA,
Rotary Connection,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Magma,
The Fugs,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Fat Boys,
Black Flag,
Curtis Mayfield,
Wasted Youth,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Trojans,
The Detroit Cobras,
Khruangbin,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Mojo Men,
Television,
Michelle Simonal,
Eddi Front,
Marvin Gaye,
Drive Like Jehu,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Yazoo,
The Golliwogs,
Grandmaster Flash,
John Holt,
Henry Cow,
Absolute Body Control,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Pere Ubu,
The Offenders,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Bronski Beat,
Chris Corsano,
Moby Grape,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Mark Hollis,
a-ha,
Minny Pops,
Nik Kershaw,
Charles Mingus,
Connie Case,
Trumans Water,
John Coltrane,
Donny Hathaway,
Max Romeo,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Soft Cell,
The Gladiators,
Depeche Mode,
Colin Newman,
Black Pus,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Sandy B,
Scan 7,
Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens.
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.