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 Kiribati and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Grass Roots to the crunk 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 Lakeside. All the underground hits.
All The Peanut Butter Conspiracy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kenny Larkin record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 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 The Fall record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Johnny Osbourne,
Unwound,
Nas,
Cluster,
Eric Dolphy,
Minor Threat,
Lalo Schifrin,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Sonics,
Man Eating Sloth,
MC5,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Birthday Party,
Mantronix,
Howard Jones,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Crime,
Pussy Galore,
Hot Snakes,
cv313,
F. McDonald,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Colin Newman,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Lucky Dragons,
The Index,
The Offenders,
Tubeway Army,
Duran Duran,
Loose Ends,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Crooked Eye,
Eric Copeland,
The Fugs,
Whodini,
Circle Jerks,
Section 25,
Bobby Womack,
Gastr Del Sol,
Carl Craig,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Fear,
The Dirtbombs,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Victims,
Gregory Isaacs,
Japan,
Hasil Adkins,
Tears for Fears,
Average White Band,
Donny Hathaway,
The J.B.'s,
Rosa Yemen,
Barbara Tucker,
Dead Boys,
the Fania All-Stars,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Gerry Rafferty,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Joy Division,
The Dave Clark Five,
Swell Maps, Swell Maps, Swell Maps, Swell Maps.
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.