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 Korea North and from Lyon.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Shanghai.
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 clarinet 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 Howard Jones to the rock kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 New Order. All the underground hits.
All Grauzone tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Porter Ricks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Foxx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grandmaster Flash,
Warren Ellis,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lee Hazlewood,
Nico,
Flipper,
Arthur Verocai,
Icehouse,
Tubeway Army,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Lakeside,
Lower 48,
China Crisis,
Tears for Fears,
John Foxx,
Quantec,
Q65,
Suburban Knight,
Saccharine Trust,
B.T. Express,
Lalo Schifrin,
Scrapy,
Chris & Cosey,
Moby Grape,
EPMD,
Newcleus,
Ludus,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Gun Club,
Aswad,
Joe Finger,
The Blues Magoos,
Flash Fearless,
Fela Kuti,
Gong,
Camouflage,
Aloha Tigers,
In Retrospect,
the Soft Cell,
The Residents,
Skarface,
The Wake,
Minny Pops,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The American Breed,
Joensuu 1685,
the Slits,
Danielle Patucci,
Sex Pistols,
Kayak,
The Dirtbombs,
Basic Channel,
Scan 7,
Boredoms,
Mary Jane Girls,
Frankie Knuckles,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Moody Blues,
Fad Gadget,
Tomorrow,
Gastr Del Sol,
E-Dancer,
Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez.
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.