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 Mozambique and from Stockholm.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Popol Vuh to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Sunsets and Hearts. All the underground hits.
All Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 harpsichord 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 synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Janne Schatter,
Derrick Morgan,
Aloha Tigers,
Nils Olav,
Japan,
The Residents,
Wolf Eyes,
Andrew Hill,
The Associates,
Aaron Thompson,
Darondo,
Camberwell Now,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Fortunes,
Davy DMX,
The Alarm Clocks,
Ronan,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Quando Quango,
The Slackers,
Faust,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Dual Sessions,
Crime,
Motorama,
Radio Birdman,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Moleskins,
The Cure,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Stereo Dub,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Adolescents,
Rakim,
Jacques Brel,
L. Decosne,
Skarface,
Gang Gang Dance,
EPMD,
Negative Approach,
The Human League,
Audionom,
Deepchord,
Ultra Naté,
The Pretty Things,
Spandau Ballet,
the Bar-Kays,
ABBA,
Robert Wyatt,
Depeche Mode,
Johnny Clarke,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Move,
Bill Wells,
The Toasters,
KRS-One,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
New York Dolls,
Michelle Simonal,
Throbbing Gristle,
Minor Threat,
Hoover, Hoover, Hoover, Hoover.
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.