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 Guatemala and from Bremen.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Stiv Bators to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Standells. All the underground hits.
All Nik Kershaw tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Drive Like Jehu 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jandek record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron 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 Black Dice,
Radio Birdman,
Ponytail,
Susan Cadogan,
Minny Pops,
Donald Byrd,
June Days,
Soul II Soul,
Panda Bear,
Bootsy Collins,
Mission of Burma,
Quando Quango,
The Count Five,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Jesper Dahlback,
Brothers Johnson,
Boredoms,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Nation of Ulysses,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Bill Wells,
PIL,
The Raincoats,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Fear,
MDC,
Johnny Clarke,
Massinfluence,
China Crisis,
Letta Mbulu,
X-102,
Arthur Verocai,
The Star Department,
Davy DMX,
Marcia Griffiths,
Mo-Dettes,
The Birthday Party,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Avey Tare,
DNA,
The Moody Blues,
Kas Product,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Monks,
Yellowson,
John Lydon,
Curtis Mayfield,
AZ,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Crispy Ambulance,
Brass Construction,
Fatback Band,
Byron Stingily,
Albert Ayler,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Cowsills,
Bobby Sherman,
Iggy Pop,
Todd Terry,
Circle Jerks,
The Divine Comedy,
Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye.
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.