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 Papua New Guinea and from Johannesburg.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Association to the punk 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 Iggy Pop. All the underground hits.
All Dawn Penn tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 808 and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Metal Thangz record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roxy Music,
Jeff Lynne,
The Standells,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Soft Machine,
Oblivians,
Roy Ayers,
The Invisible,
Ornette Coleman,
Skaos,
Swans,
Panda Bear,
Monolake,
Danielle Patucci,
John Foxx,
DJ Sneak,
These Immortal Souls,
JFA,
Eric Dolphy,
Janne Schatter,
The Slits,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Neil Young,
Dead Boys,
Terry Callier,
The Skatalites,
The Human League,
Gang of Four,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Five Americans,
The Buckinghams,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Charles Mingus,
The Gladiators,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Jandek,
Aural Exciters,
Scratch Acid,
Average White Band,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Television Personalities,
Gong,
Ponytail,
Absolute Body Control,
In Retrospect,
Second Layer,
Eve St. Jones,
Von Mondo,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
the Bar-Kays,
Archie Shepp,
The American Breed,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Barry Ungar,
Bauhaus,
The Pop Group,
Lakeside,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Crispian St. Peters,
Idris Muhammad,
The Grass Roots,
Bush Tetras,
David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie, David Bowie.
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.