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 Tajikistan and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Gerry Rafferty to the dance kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Kings Of Tomorrow. All the underground hits.
All Arab on Radar tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every China Crisis record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 clarinet and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rufus Thomas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jandek,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Gang Green,
Buzzcocks,
Morten Harket,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Amazonics,
The Gories,
Ornette Coleman,
Gang of Four,
Con Funk Shun,
Sexual Harrassment,
Jimmy McGriff,
Lungfish,
The Knickerbockers,
Franke,
Henry Cow,
AZ,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Bluetip,
Bobby Byrd,
the Slits,
Accadde A,
Deakin,
Man Parrish,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Malaria!,
DNA,
Von Mondo,
Ronan,
Tears for Fears,
Ituana,
Black Moon,
Eric Dolphy,
Tubeway Army,
Electric Prunes,
Arcadia,
The Real Kids,
Jesper Dahlback,
Panda Bear,
Magazine,
Wolf Eyes,
Das Ding,
Yusef Lateef,
Amon Düül II,
The Flesh Eaters,
Prince Buster,
Erykah Badu,
Young Marble Giants,
The Grass Roots,
Arthur Verocai,
Jeff Mills,
New Age Steppers,
Babytalk,
Marc Almond,
Quando Quango,
Albert Ayler,
Eurythmics,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Hashim,
The Sound, The Sound, The Sound, The Sound.
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.