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 Paraguay and from Edmonton.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the güiro 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 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx to the grunge 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 Qualms. All the underground hits.
All Swell Maps tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Skaos record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Louis and Bebe Barron record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lyres,
In Retrospect,
Barry Ungar,
The Barracudas,
Echospace,
The Pretty Things,
Tears for Fears,
Theoretical Girls,
The American Breed,
Glenn Branca,
Zero Boys,
Scientists,
The Birthday Party,
The Smiths,
K-Klass,
DNA,
Donald Byrd,
Blancmange,
Juan Atkins,
New Age Steppers,
Los Fastidios,
Sex Pistols,
Lalo Schifrin,
Traffic Nightmare,
Bill Near,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Roxy Music,
Susan Cadogan,
Howard Jones,
Grauzone,
Max Romeo,
U.S. Maple,
Patti Smith,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Althea and Donna,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
The Associates,
The Pop Group,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Tremeloes,
Ronnie Foster,
ABBA,
Livin' Joy,
The Cure,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Archie Shepp,
Black Flag,
The Cramps,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Harpers Bizarre,
Henry Cow,
Blossom Toes,
Mad Mike,
Jawbox,
Cheater Slicks,
Jimmy McGriff,
Unwound,
Joensuu 1685,
Public Enemy,
Judy Mowatt,
Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus, Bauhaus.
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.