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 Tunisia and from Madrid.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare 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 Arcadia to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 T.S.O.L.. All the underground hits.
All Lower 48 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barrington Levy 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pagans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Drexciya,
8 Eyed Spy,
Crispy Ambulance,
Ohio Players,
Delta 5,
Interpol,
Scott Walker,
Radiohead,
Chris & Cosey,
Hot Snakes,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Gories,
MC5,
The Martian,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Dark Day,
Fugazi,
Ossler,
Eli Mardock,
Matthew Bourne,
Ituana,
Bluetip,
Lucky Dragons,
Tom Boy,
the Swans,
The Dead C,
Aaron Thompson,
Lightning Bolt,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Fat Boys,
Motorama,
the Soft Cell,
Pylon,
Tres Demented,
Don Cherry,
Swell Maps,
Stetsasonic,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Index,
Terry Callier,
Cameo,
Japan,
The American Breed,
La Düsseldorf,
Fela Kuti,
Blossom Toes,
Scion,
Rakim,
Man Parrish,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Dennis Brown,
Nick Fraelich,
AZ,
10cc,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Vainqueur,
Talk Talk,
Letta Mbulu,
Sight & Sound,
Babytalk,
Cymande, Cymande, Cymande, Cymande.
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.