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 Austria and from Copenhagen.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the snare 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 Zapp to the rock 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 Chris & Cosey. All the underground hits.
All Ultra Naté tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Popol Vuh record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eurythmics record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Little Man,
10cc,
A Certain Ratio,
Rakim,
Can,
Lyres,
Fat Boys,
Talk Talk,
Yellowson,
The Motions,
Unwound,
Drexciya,
Rod Modell,
Derrick Morgan,
KRS-One,
Joey Negro,
DJ Style,
Isaac Hayes,
Sonic Youth,
Yazoo,
The Grass Roots,
Blancmange,
Quantec,
Boogie Down Productions,
Eden Ahbez,
Delta 5,
Saccharine Trust,
Amazonics,
Cecil Taylor,
The Angels of Light,
Brothers Johnson,
Barry Ungar,
Moss Icon,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Warsaw,
World's Most,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Dawn Penn,
Pharoah Sanders,
David Bowie,
Angry Samoans,
Au Pairs,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Black Dice,
Gang Starr,
Lee Hazlewood,
Boz Scaggs,
The Divine Comedy,
Oblivians,
Malaria!,
Idris Muhammad,
Y Pants,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Albert Ayler,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Litter,
The Modern Lovers,
Visage,
Aaron Thompson,
Sandy B,
Guru Guru,
Grandmaster Flash,
The Moleskins,
Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins.
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.