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 Saudi Arabia and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Jerry's Kids to the rock kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Idris Muhammad. All the underground hits.
All The Happenings tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Flesh Eaters 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lou Christie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Brand Nubian,
Ralphi Rosario,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Warsaw,
Panda Bear,
The Cure,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
the Human League,
Thompson Twins,
The Modern Lovers,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Chrome,
John Foxx,
Hardrive,
Tubeway Army,
The United States of America,
The Count Five,
The Pop Group,
Magazine,
Desert Stars,
Smog,
The Vogues,
Lalann,
Vladislav Delay,
Boredoms,
Graham Central Station,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Moebius,
Sandy B,
Bobby Byrd,
Schoolly D,
Sight & Sound,
Rosa Yemen,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Wake,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Blackbyrds,
H. Thieme,
Crash Course in Science,
Tommy Roe,
Camouflage,
Tears for Fears,
Tres Demented,
The Moleskins,
The Pretty Things,
Pole,
Brick,
Chris Corsano,
the Slits,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Busters,
Erasure,
The Sonics,
Ituana,
Pylon,
Spandau Ballet,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
ABC,
Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti.
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.