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 Malta and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Henry Cow to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Black Bananas. All the underground hits.
All Goldenarms tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Aaron Thompson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Minor Threat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Walker Brothers,
Wasted Youth,
Organ,
The Blackbyrds,
Young Marble Giants,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Offenders,
Rites of Spring,
Bluetip,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Skarface,
Sparks,
Echospace,
Duran Duran,
The Sound,
Reuben Wilson,
Isaac Hayes,
Wings,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Camouflage,
Neu!,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Selecter,
Visage,
Altered Images,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
John Holt,
MDC,
Rufus Thomas,
Silicon Teens,
Eric Copeland,
Ultimate Spinach,
Glambeats Corp.,
Grey Daturas,
Country Teasers,
the Normal,
Lalo Schifrin,
Liliput,
Heaven 17,
The Remains,
Hashim,
The Blues Magoos,
Black Sheep,
Danielle Patucci,
the Human League,
Jacques Brel,
Sight & Sound,
Dawn Penn,
John Coltrane,
The Smoke,
Barrington Levy,
Lee Hazlewood,
Crooked Eye,
It's A Beautiful Day,
the Fania All-Stars,
Khruangbin,
Archie Shepp,
The Fortunes,
Trumans Water,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Mantronix, Mantronix, Mantronix, Mantronix.
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.