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 Mauritania and from Stockholm.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Buckinghams to the dance 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 Henry Cow. All the underground hits.
All The Fuzztones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Gories record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 an arpeggiator and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Hot Snakes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Red Krayola,
Maurizio,
Boogie Down Productions,
Gong,
Aswad,
kango's stein massive,
Magazine,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Cymande,
Max Romeo,
Darondo,
Mo-Dettes,
MC5,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
a-ha,
Quando Quango,
Kaleidoscope,
The Cramps,
Ituana,
Massinfluence,
Y Pants,
Index,
Audionom,
Livin' Joy,
Matthew Halsall,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
the Swans,
Tim Buckley,
the Fania All-Stars,
Jacques Brel,
Public Image Ltd.,
Section 25,
The Human League,
48th St. Collective,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Thee Headcoats,
Main Source,
Jandek,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Drexciya,
Arab on Radar,
Hot Snakes,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Scan 7,
New Age Steppers,
Graham Central Station,
Japan,
Bobby Sherman,
Sun Ra,
The Skatalites,
Ultravox,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Zeros,
World's Most,
Barrington Levy,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
ABC,
David Axelrod,
The Gun Club,
Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop.
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.