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 Brunei and from Bologna.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the oboe 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 The Modern Lovers to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Man Parrish. All the underground hits.
All Kings Of Tomorrow tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Altered Images record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jeru the Damaja record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Derrick May,
The Shadows of Knight,
The Trojans,
The Moody Blues,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Grandmaster Flash,
Skarface,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Moss Icon,
Aural Exciters,
The Doors,
Ponytail,
Pet Shop Boys,
Fifty Foot Hose,
In Retrospect,
Ohio Players,
New Order,
Unwound,
Moebius,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Amon Düül,
Barry Ungar,
The Standells,
Whodini,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Cybotron,
Boogie Down Productions,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Tremeloes,
Beasts of Bourbon,
FM Einheit,
Robert Görl,
Das Ding,
Avey Tare,
The Velvet Underground,
James White and The Blacks,
Sugar Minott,
Negative Approach,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Yusef Lateef,
The Doobie Brothers,
Jandek,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Graham Central Station,
Letta Mbulu,
Oblivians,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Bad Manners,
The American Breed,
Reuben Wilson,
Thee Headcoats,
Chris & Cosey,
Interpol,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Cure,
Gastr Del Sol,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
The Monochrome Set,
Hashim,
MDC,
Smog,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Martian, The Martian, The Martian, The Martian.
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.