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 Vanuatu and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 Brass Construction to the rock 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 Chrome. All the underground hits.
All Visage tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eric B and Rakim 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nation of Ulysses record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 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 Smiths,
Jeru the Damaja,
ABC,
Rakim,
Agent Orange,
T.S.O.L.,
Cheater Slicks,
Erykah Badu,
Panda Bear,
Harmonia,
Mark Hollis,
Soul II Soul,
Oblivians,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Standells,
Frankie Knuckles,
Scrapy,
Sällskapet,
Lakeside,
Blossom Toes,
Saccharine Trust,
The Martian,
Neil Young,
Delta 5,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Barrington Levy,
Roxette,
Crooked Eye,
Bad Manners,
Tommy Roe,
The Gladiators,
a-ha,
Severed Heads,
Kerrie Biddell,
Anthony Braxton,
Prince Buster,
Half Japanese,
Slick Rick,
Icehouse,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Sound,
Leonard Cohen,
Sister Nancy,
the Human League,
Moby Grape,
David McCallum,
The Saints,
Pole,
Echospace,
Trumans Water,
Subhumans,
John Lydon,
Index,
The Zeros,
Basic Channel,
The Toasters,
Eric B and Rakim,
Eden Ahbez,
Gong,
Ice-T,
The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids.
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.