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 Guyana and from Accra.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Winnipeg.
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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 a-ha to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Saccharine Trust. All the underground hits.
All Sight & Sound tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Hill record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cymande record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June of 44,
Max Romeo,
Scan 7,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Chris Corsano,
T.S.O.L.,
Kayak,
Arcadia,
X-Ray Spex,
Quando Quango,
Blake Baxter,
The Birthday Party,
Eden Ahbez,
Accadde A,
Lou Reed,
Gang of Four,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Model 500,
Shoche,
The Monochrome Set,
Sun Ra,
Section 25,
New York Dolls,
Rapeman,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Gong,
Absolute Body Control,
Joey Negro,
Alice Coltrane,
Ash Ra Tempel,
CMW,
Suicide,
Slick Rick,
T. Rex,
John Cale,
Ten City,
Dual Sessions,
R.M.O.,
Can,
Dorothy Ashby,
Glambeats Corp.,
Procol Harum,
Slave,
Hashim,
John Coltrane,
Black Flag,
Donald Byrd,
Radio Birdman,
Morten Harket,
Tom Boy,
The Cramps,
Mandrill,
Black Bananas,
Derrick Morgan,
Deadbeat,
Wolf Eyes,
Delta 5,
Das Ding,
Desert Stars,
the Sonics,
Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana.
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.