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 Uzbekistan and from Johannesburg.
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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 David Axelrod 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 The Velvet Underground. All the underground hits.
All CMW tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Negative Approach 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Derrick May record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Pretty Things,
Steve Hackett,
Yaz,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Roger Hodgson,
Das Ding,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Janne Schatter,
Jimmy McGriff,
B.T. Express,
Alison Limerick,
Spandau Ballet,
Ice-T,
Sarah Menescal,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Panda Bear,
Bill Near,
Faust,
Deepchord,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Talk Talk,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Fire Engines,
Dennis Brown,
Andrew Hill,
Marmalade,
Monolake,
Erykah Badu,
Youth Brigade,
Blancmange,
Gastr Del Sol,
Ultimate Spinach,
Loose Ends,
Connie Case,
Anthony Braxton,
The Vogues,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Gregory Isaacs,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Skatalites,
Jeff Lynne,
Heaven 17,
Terrestrial Tones,
Interpol,
Rod Modell,
Rakim,
Subhumans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Fad Gadget,
Von Mondo,
DJ Style,
Gichy Dan,
Camouflage,
Freddie Wadling,
Crooked Eye,
Marshall Jefferson,
Sound Behaviour,
The Residents,
Soft Cell,
Barbara Tucker, Barbara Tucker, Barbara Tucker, Barbara Tucker.
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.