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 Argentina and from Copenhagen.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Flash Fearless to the grime 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 Connie Case. All the underground hits.
All The Divine Comedy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Unwound record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nation of Ulysses record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ 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 Electric Prunes,
Cybotron,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Deakin,
Minutemen,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Hoover,
Wasted Youth,
Crispy Ambulance,
Kaleidoscope,
Guru Guru,
Letta Mbulu,
K-Klass,
Tubeway Army,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Human League,
Radio Birdman,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Sound Behaviour,
Terry Callier,
Hardrive,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Monks,
The Mojo Men,
Eli Mardock,
Bobby Sherman,
The Sound,
Yazoo,
Adolescents,
Sarah Menescal,
Howard Jones,
The Slackers,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Excepter,
Piero Umiliani,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Robert Görl,
Bobbi Humphrey,
F. McDonald,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Liliput,
Curtis Mayfield,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Theoretical Girls,
Reuben Wilson,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Cheater Slicks,
Bronski Beat,
the Fania All-Stars,
Rekid,
Glambeats Corp.,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
the Germs,
MDC,
Yusef Lateef,
The Birthday Party,
Warren Ellis,
The Dave Clark Five,
Boogie Down Productions,
Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented.
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.