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 Bangladesh and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz to the punk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Aloha Tigers. All the underground hits.
All Alphaville tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Hood record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Motions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator 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?
Lakeside,
Alphaville,
Fad Gadget,
Quadrant,
D'Angelo,
Ultimate Spinach,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Gap Band,
Lou Reed,
Liliput,
Ice-T,
The Seeds,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Barrington Levy,
T. Rex,
Chris & Cosey,
Jeru the Damaja,
LL Cool J,
Ponytail,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Duran Duran,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Zeros,
the Germs,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Red Krayola,
Absolute Body Control,
A Certain Ratio,
The Buckinghams,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Tommy Roe,
Eddi Front,
the Fania All-Stars,
Youth Brigade,
Siglo XX,
Guru Guru,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Simply Red,
Soul II Soul,
Marshall Jefferson,
Oneida,
Metal Thangz,
The Names,
Isaac Hayes,
Faraquet,
Nico,
Half Japanese,
Bauhaus,
Jeff Lynne,
Rosa Yemen,
Khruangbin,
Unwound,
Skarface,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The New Christs,
Kerri Chandler,
Robert Görl,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Selecter,
the Human League,
Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage.
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.