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 Mozambique and from Bologna.
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 1965 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
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 Peter and Kerry 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 Sun Ra Arkestra. All the underground hits.
All Little Man tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Deadbeat record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Albert Ayler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Star Department,
Ralphi Rosario,
Jesper Dahlback,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Pole,
Crispy Ambulance,
Popol Vuh,
Robert Hood,
Girls At Our Best!,
Reagan Youth,
The Monochrome Set,
The Mojo Men,
Liliput,
John Cale,
Lalann,
Scientists,
Stereo Dub,
Black Bananas,
The Mummies,
The Standells,
Eve St. Jones,
Ohio Players,
Matthew Bourne,
Kurtis Blow,
Ronan,
The Seeds,
The Kinks,
Thompson Twins,
Althea and Donna,
The Residents,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Moleskins,
Shuggie Otis,
Echospace,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Schoolly D,
The Pop Group,
The Fortunes,
Young Marble Giants,
Scion,
Donny Hathaway,
The Martian,
CMW,
Soft Cell,
Lebanon Hanover,
Bang On A Can,
The Five Americans,
Gang Starr,
Avey Tare,
Skaos,
Colin Newman,
Wasted Youth,
Loose Ends,
Deakin,
The Stooges,
Agent Orange,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Basic Channel,
Desert Stars, Desert Stars, Desert Stars, Desert Stars.
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.