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 Cameroon and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1980.
I was there at the first Cybotron show in Detroit.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Yusef Lateef to the crunk 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 Prince Buster. All the underground hits.
All Neu! tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Notorious Big And Bone Thugs 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cecil Taylor record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Neu!,
Albert Ayler,
Tom Boy,
Joensuu 1685,
June Days,
Flipper,
Nik Kershaw,
Kerri Chandler,
Barbara Tucker,
Sister Nancy,
E-Dancer,
Black Bananas,
Grandmaster Flash,
Prince Buster,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Gabor Szabo,
Arcadia,
Laurel Aitken,
Animal Collective,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
L. Decosne,
Lou Christie,
The New Christs,
Von Mondo,
Sarah Menescal,
The Blackbyrds,
Public Enemy,
Bizarre Inc.,
Yazoo,
Soul II Soul,
MC5,
The Human League,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Dave Clark Five,
Gang of Four,
Donny Hathaway,
The Divine Comedy,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Wake,
Jawbox,
Aloha Tigers,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Rufus Thomas,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Saints,
Japan,
Aswad,
Joey Negro,
Man Parrish,
Bad Manners,
Crash Course in Science,
Moby Grape,
The Mojo Men,
Bill Wells,
The Flesh Eaters,
Sugar Minott,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The American Breed,
James White and The Blacks,
Pet Shop Boys,
the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell, the Soft Cell.
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.