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 Afghanistan and from Tehran.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Durutti Column to the funk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Barrington Levy. All the underground hits.
All the Germs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Easy Going record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Royal Trux record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro 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 Residents,
Archie Shepp,
Tres Demented,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Tremeloes,
Dave Gahan,
Adolescents,
The Red Krayola,
Bauhaus,
Basic Channel,
Crooked Eye,
OOIOO,
Mandrill,
Public Image Ltd.,
Michelle Simonal,
Second Layer,
Black Pus,
Junior Murvin,
The Music Machine,
Arab on Radar,
Sun Ra,
Buzzcocks,
DNA,
Underground Resistance,
The Cowsills,
Susan Cadogan,
Morten Harket,
T. Rex,
Vladislav Delay,
Avey Tare,
Robert Görl,
Q and Not U,
Chris & Cosey,
Ultimate Spinach,
Zero Boys,
The Beau Brummels,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The Toasters,
Pantaleimon,
The Gap Band,
The Five Americans,
China Crisis,
The Black Dice,
Urselle,
Bush Tetras,
Neil Young,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Todd Rundgren,
Peter and Kerry,
Dorothy Ashby,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Jandek,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Minor Threat,
Gang Green,
Marshall Jefferson,
X-102,
Lou Christie, Lou Christie, Lou Christie, Lou Christie.
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.