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 Nauru and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Pierre Henry to the rock 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 Judy Mowatt. All the underground hits.
All CMW tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Frankie Knuckles 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Second Layer record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Dead C,
Andrew Hill,
Television Personalities,
Accadde A,
Colin Newman,
Steve Hackett,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Slick Rick,
Iggy Pop,
Hardrive,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Eric Dolphy,
Groovy Waters,
Fad Gadget,
Nas,
Mary Jane Girls,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Lou Christie,
Section 25,
Heaven 17,
Bobby Womack,
Jerry's Kids,
Eyeless In Gaza,
KRS-One,
The Fire Engines,
Archie Shepp,
Boredoms,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
These Immortal Souls,
Sixth Finger,
The Music Machine,
Arthur Verocai,
Crash Course in Science,
Underground Resistance,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Marshall Jefferson,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Offenders,
La Düsseldorf,
Tres Demented,
Minutemen,
The Five Americans,
Motorama,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Mandrill,
Jandek,
Morten Harket,
Kas Product,
Vladislav Delay,
The Human League,
Alphaville,
Brand Nubian,
Ponytail,
MDC,
Spandau Ballet,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Joensuu 1685,
The Residents,
Quadrant,
The Names,
Hasil Adkins,
The Buckinghams,
Faust,
The Young Rascals, The Young Rascals, The Young Rascals, The Young Rascals.
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.