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 Lesotho and from Lille.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Isaac Hayes 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 Spandau Ballet. All the underground hits.
All Isaac Hayes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Soulsonic Force record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Slits record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Selecter,
Hot Snakes,
the Bar-Kays,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Metal Thangz,
Gregory Isaacs,
DNA,
Lucky Dragons,
Judy Mowatt,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Saints,
Iggy Pop,
Steve Hackett,
Byron Stingily,
Chris Corsano,
The Golliwogs,
Deadbeat,
The Sonics,
Panda Bear,
Neu!,
Flamin' Groovies,
Sparks,
Barrington Levy,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Terrestrial Tones,
Second Layer,
Mr. Review,
Sarah Menescal,
Amon Düül II,
Prince Buster,
Charles Mingus,
Das Ding,
Jawbox,
Wolf Eyes,
Babytalk,
Popol Vuh,
48th St. Collective,
Andrew Hill,
Sonic Youth,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Angels of Light,
Banda Bassotti,
The Monochrome Set,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Pet Shop Boys,
Smog,
Lou Christie,
Tommy Roe,
The Mummies,
H. Thieme,
Josef K,
Television,
The Fugs,
Suicide,
Pole,
Slave,
Letta Mbulu,
Deepchord,
Joyce Sims,
Marine Girls, Marine Girls, Marine Girls, Marine Girls.
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.