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 Burundi and from New York.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 The Searchers to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 The Mojo Men. All the underground hits.
All Chris Corsano 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 crunk 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 snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Grandmaster Flash record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Camberwell Now,
the Human League,
Trumans Water,
Mars,
Cybotron,
Minny Pops,
Gichy Dan,
Traffic Nightmare,
Fela Kuti,
Stiv Bators,
Frankie Knuckles,
DJ Sneak,
Index,
Malaria!,
Ohio Players,
Franke,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Hasil Adkins,
Q and Not U,
A Certain Ratio,
Oblivians,
The Cure,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Sällskapet,
Echospace,
Quadrant,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Arab on Radar,
Stockholm Monsters,
David Axelrod,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Monochrome Set,
Radiohead,
AZ,
Ossler,
Blake Baxter,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Marmalade,
Lindisfarne,
Sight & Sound,
John Lydon,
X-Ray Spex,
Circle Jerks,
Accadde A,
China Crisis,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
B.T. Express,
Sex Pistols,
Outsiders,
Soulsonic Force,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Boredoms,
Janne Schatter,
June Days,
The Busters,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
10cc,
Make Up,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
the Association,
The Fire Engines,
Marshall Jefferson,
Stetsasonic,
The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs, The Golliwogs.
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.