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 Malta and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Susan Cadogan to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Throbbing Gristle. All the underground hits.
All Gary Puckett & The Union Gap tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every John Cale record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Red Krayola record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rites of Spring,
The Moleskins,
Bill Wells,
Delon & Dalcan,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Monolake,
Susan Cadogan,
Lalann,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Kenny Larkin,
Deadbeat,
Arcadia,
Pere Ubu,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Birthday Party,
Harry Pussy,
Severed Heads,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Outsiders,
Minnie Riperton,
Ronnie Foster,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Porter Ricks,
Terrestrial Tones,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Eurythmics,
The United States of America,
Prince Buster,
Ponytail,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Shoche,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Brothers Johnson,
Marvin Gaye,
Tommy Roe,
Joe Finger,
Freddie Wadling,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Real Kids,
Talk Talk,
Von Mondo,
The Electric Prunes,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Flesh Eaters,
Kayak,
Gang Starr,
Depeche Mode,
Quando Quango,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Slits,
Loose Ends,
The Velvet Underground,
Tomorrow,
Stereo Dub,
Sarah Menescal,
Rufus Thomas,
Sonic Youth,
Fear,
Josef K,
Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp, Archie Shepp.
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.