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 Swaziland and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in London.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Mojo Men to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Ludus. All the underground hits.
All Be Bop Deluxe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Black Dice 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Half Japanese record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Visage,
Surgeon,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Cybotron,
The Seeds,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Chris & Cosey,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
The Vogues,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Masters at Work,
Brick,
The Music Machine,
Goldenarms,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Steve Hackett,
Royal Trux,
cv313,
The Move,
Unwound,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Fire Engines,
Au Pairs,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Techniques,
Mandrill,
Susan Cadogan,
Gang Gang Dance,
Excepter,
Marmalade,
The Zeros,
Freddie Wadling,
Qualms,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Count Five,
Fatback Band,
Reuben Wilson,
Niagra,
Ultravox,
The Saints,
New Age Steppers,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Swell Maps,
Kerrie Biddell,
F. McDonald,
Pylon,
Blossom Toes,
Sarah Menescal,
Sex Pistols,
T. Rex,
Grandmaster Flash,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Remains,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Bauhaus,
Echospace,
Quantec,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Warsaw,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Leaves, The Leaves, The Leaves, The Leaves.
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.