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 Djibouti and from Glasgow.
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 1968 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the 808 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 Eve St. Jones to the rap 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 D'Angelo. All the underground hits.
All Hasil Adkins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Terrestrial Tones record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Robert Görl record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
La Düsseldorf,
The Pop Group,
Aural Exciters,
Black Flag,
These Immortal Souls,
Flipper,
New Age Steppers,
Kaleidoscope,
Nas,
Malaria!,
Bronski Beat,
Don Cherry,
Tropical Tobacco,
Khruangbin,
Soft Machine,
Cal Tjader,
Crispy Ambulance,
Minor Threat,
Byron Stingily,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Fatback Band,
Barry Ungar,
DNA,
DJ Style,
Goldenarms,
Cheater Slicks,
Country Teasers,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Schoolly D,
Ponytail,
Althea and Donna,
Grey Daturas,
Ultra Naté,
Mo-Dettes,
Darondo,
The Happenings,
Ronan,
Scion,
Wally Richardson,
Sixth Finger,
Y Pants,
Peter and Kerry,
Anakelly,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Audionom,
T.S.O.L.,
Loose Ends,
Robert Wyatt,
Japan,
Camouflage,
Animal Collective,
Rites of Spring,
The Victims,
Man Parrish,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Aaron Thompson,
Quantec,
Lindisfarne,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Modern Lovers,
Dave Gahan,
John Lydon,
John Foxx,
Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus.
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.