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 Burkina and from Spokane.
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 1969 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Mars to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Jeff Mills. All the underground hits.
All Animal Collective 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 punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soft Cell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sparks,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Pere Ubu,
DNA,
Accadde A,
Josef K,
The Star Department,
Harpers Bizarre,
FM Einheit,
Goldenarms,
Kerri Chandler,
JFA,
The J.B.'s,
Roxette,
Tom Boy,
The Birthday Party,
Funkadelic,
Yaz,
the Sonics,
The Divine Comedy,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Buzzcocks,
Thompson Twins,
Minutemen,
Electric Light Orchestra,
In Retrospect,
Idris Muhammad,
Ultravox,
Tubeway Army,
Soulsonic Force,
Maurizio,
Lakeside,
the Association,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Das Ding,
Camberwell Now,
Bauhaus,
PIL,
Essential Logic,
Jandek,
Henry Cow,
Surgeon,
Andrew Hill,
B.T. Express,
Prince Buster,
Michelle Simonal,
kango's stein massive,
Trumans Water,
Marmalade,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Gabor Szabo,
L. Decosne,
Icehouse,
Mary Jane Girls,
Aaron Thompson,
Jeff Mills,
Godley & Creme,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Bootsy Collins,
Donny Hathaway,
Niagra, Niagra, Niagra, Niagra.
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.