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 Estonia and from Seoul.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Terrestrial Tones to the dance 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 JFA. All the underground hits.
All The Divine Comedy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pantaleimon record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Modern Lovers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pere Ubu,
Trumans Water,
DJ Sneak,
Mark Hollis,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Soft Cell,
DJ Style,
The Neon Judgement,
Stockholm Monsters,
Swell Maps,
Flamin' Groovies,
Marshall Jefferson,
Rufus Thomas,
Nirvana,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Ludus,
In Retrospect,
Laurel Aitken,
Circle Jerks,
Smog,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bill Wells,
Hardrive,
The Kinks,
Man Parrish,
Quadrant,
Urselle,
The Five Americans,
Matthew Bourne,
Sam Rivers,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Babytalk,
Maurizio,
Ultra Naté,
Flash Fearless,
Kaleidoscope,
Quando Quango,
Faust,
Althea and Donna,
The Motions,
Shuggie Otis,
Nik Kershaw,
Audionom,
The Vogues,
Wally Richardson,
Lou Reed,
Warsaw,
Camouflage,
Jacques Brel,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Happenings,
New Order,
Black Sheep,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Misunderstood,
Aswad,
Al Stewart,
The Techniques,
Icehouse,
Qualms, Qualms, Qualms, Qualms.
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.