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 Stockholm.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Schoolly D to the disco 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 Motorama. All the underground hits.
All Fluxion tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every L. Decosne 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Quando Quango record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Zeros,
Monolake,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Pere Ubu,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Man Eating Sloth,
Qualms,
The Misunderstood,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Arthur Verocai,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Yazoo,
The Count Five,
Jeff Lynne,
Cecil Taylor,
China Crisis,
Heaven 17,
Glenn Branca,
Pulsallama,
Schoolly D,
The Raincoats,
Swell Maps,
Sällskapet,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Interpol,
Zero Boys,
Mad Mike,
Eurythmics,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Graham Central Station,
Amon Düül,
Little Man,
Nirvana,
Lucky Dragons,
Negative Approach,
Babytalk,
Dead Boys,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Mars,
Procol Harum,
kango's stein massive,
Howard Jones,
The Stooges,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Boogie Down Productions,
Marvin Gaye,
Grandmaster Flash,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Scion,
Agent Orange,
Patti Smith,
Kevin Saunderson,
Reagan Youth,
The Cowsills,
Bang On A Can,
Warsaw,
Boz Scaggs,
Andrew Hill,
Glambeats Corp.,
Section 25, Section 25, Section 25, Section 25.
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.