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 Lebanon and from Manchester.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 OOIOO to the funk 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 Magazine. All the underground hits.
All Jesper Dahlback tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Vogues record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Babytalk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Accadde A,
The Cure,
Lou Christie,
T.S.O.L.,
Essential Logic,
The Blues Magoos,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Pulsallama,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Jerry's Kids,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Echospace,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Country Teasers,
a-ha,
EPMD,
Man Eating Sloth,
Donny Hathaway,
10cc,
Throbbing Gristle,
Malaria!,
Crispian St. Peters,
John Foxx,
The Searchers,
The Vogues,
The Zeros,
Nas,
Gang Green,
Todd Rundgren,
James White and The Blacks,
David Axelrod,
Harpers Bizarre,
Chris & Cosey,
David Bowie,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Blossom Toes,
The Leaves,
Grauzone,
Hot Snakes,
Scientists,
Eric Copeland,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Lee Hazlewood,
John Cale,
Joe Smooth,
The Fire Engines,
The Neon Judgement,
Roy Ayers,
The Tremeloes,
Bauhaus,
Fat Boys,
Lebanon Hanover,
Zapp,
Cymande,
Simply Red,
Alison Limerick,
Index,
Pharoah Sanders,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Fluxion,
Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu.
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.