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 Zambia and from Bremen.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Silicon Teens to the rap kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Charles Mingus. All the underground hits.
All Drive Like Jehu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arthur Verocai 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 808 and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Men They Couldn't Hang record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soft Cell,
Yaz,
Cecil Taylor,
Joensuu 1685,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
the Swans,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Invisible,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Gladiators,
Arcadia,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Scratch Acid,
Joey Negro,
CMW,
Eric Copeland,
X-102,
The Birthday Party,
The Index,
Slave,
Lou Christie,
Sun Ra,
Kaleidoscope,
Fad Gadget,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Adolescents,
the Soft Cell,
Little Man,
Dead Boys,
Popol Vuh,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
X-Ray Spex,
B.T. Express,
Brothers Johnson,
D'Angelo,
UT,
Traffic Nightmare,
Pagans,
Saccharine Trust,
Mantronix,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
June of 44,
Maurizio,
Bobby Byrd,
Piero Umiliani,
Jandek,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Talk Talk,
T. Rex,
Bill Wells,
Crispy Ambulance,
Morten Harket,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Pole,
Can,
The Sisters of Mercy,
David McCallum,
Agitation Free,
This Heat, This Heat, This Heat, This Heat.
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.