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 Bulgaria and from Halifax.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Joe Finger to the grime kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Heaven 17. All the underground hits.
All Barbara Tucker tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chris & Cosey record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 marimba and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a London Community Gospel Choir record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cymande,
Scratch Acid,
Nirvana,
Isaac Hayes,
Fugazi,
Schoolly D,
Wings,
Todd Terry,
Eric Copeland,
Barrington Levy,
Brick,
Danielle Patucci,
Basic Channel,
Neu!,
U.S. Maple,
The Busters,
Blancmange,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Neon Judgement,
Andrew Hill,
Tubeway Army,
Todd Rundgren,
Little Man,
Babytalk,
The Associates,
The Leaves,
Archie Shepp,
The Saints,
Nik Kershaw,
Ronnie Foster,
The Gories,
Mary Jane Girls,
New Order,
The Residents,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Remains,
The Standells,
Section 25,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Franke,
The Durutti Column,
Popol Vuh,
Pere Ubu,
kango's stein massive,
Negative Approach,
Underground Resistance,
Black Flag,
Henry Cow,
Roxette,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Gun Club,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Bill Near,
Japan,
Pet Shop Boys,
Terrestrial Tones,
Panda Bear,
Yazoo,
Loose Ends,
The Dave Clark Five,
Faraquet,
Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell, Kerrie Biddell.
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.