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 Venezuela and from Madrid.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 These Immortal Souls to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Throbbing Gristle. All the underground hits.
All The Monks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every MC5 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a JFA record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Evens,
The Slackers,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
48th St. Collective,
The Smiths,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
David Axelrod,
Nik Kershaw,
Johnny Clarke,
The Stooges,
Quadrant,
The Real Kids,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Todd Rundgren,
Lebanon Hanover,
the Swans,
Bobby Byrd,
The Human League,
Andrew Hill,
Dennis Brown,
Tropical Tobacco,
Leonard Cohen,
Howard Jones,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Bob Dylan,
Man Eating Sloth,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Ultravox,
Black Moon,
AZ,
Byron Stingily,
Sun Ra,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Trumans Water,
The Neon Judgement,
Wire,
Hasil Adkins,
Minnie Riperton,
Sam Rivers,
Dave Gahan,
Avey Tare,
Brass Construction,
Frankie Knuckles,
Blossom Toes,
Tubeway Army,
Junior Murvin,
Vainqueur,
Kayak,
David McCallum,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Gories,
Ronan,
T.S.O.L.,
Matthew Bourne,
New York Dolls,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Slits,
The Detroit Cobras,
Public Image Ltd.,
Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops.
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.