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 Jordan and from Winnipeg.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Monolake 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 Echo & the Bunnymen. All the underground hits.
All Thee Headcoats tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Strawberry Alarm Clock 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jawbox record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
China Crisis,
The Grass Roots,
Whodini,
Howard Jones,
Jeff Lynne,
The Golliwogs,
Roxy Music,
Severed Heads,
Stiv Bators,
Sister Nancy,
OOIOO,
Henry Cow,
The United States of America,
The Count Five,
T.S.O.L.,
June of 44,
Barrington Levy,
Index,
The J.B.'s,
The Detroit Cobras,
Boredoms,
Carl Craig,
Alton Ellis,
The Gories,
Radio Birdman,
David Bowie,
Khruangbin,
Rod Modell,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Guru Guru,
Pharoah Sanders,
Colin Newman,
Grauzone,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Five Americans,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Sparks,
Skaos,
The Gun Club,
Symarip,
Dead Boys,
AZ,
Stockholm Monsters,
Gichy Dan,
Magazine,
Darondo,
Gang of Four,
Crooked Eye,
Lindisfarne,
In Retrospect,
The Electric Prunes,
Gang Gang Dance,
The Real Kids,
Television Personalities,
The Moody Blues,
Alphaville,
The Human League,
The Happenings,
Eli Mardock,
Dennis Brown,
Avey Tare,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Desert Stars,
Boogie Down Productions,
Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside.
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.