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 Kiribati and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Clear Light to the grunge 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 Shoche. All the underground hits.
All Nik Kershaw tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rotary Connection record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 mellotron and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a the Normal record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Buckinghams,
K-Klass,
The J.B.'s,
Chris Corsano,
Roxette,
The Move,
Gichy Dan,
Brothers Johnson,
Johnny Clarke,
Boredoms,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Dorothy Ashby,
Hoover,
The Birthday Party,
the Sonics,
Scientists,
Whodini,
Lebanon Hanover,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Red Krayola,
Pagans,
Aloha Tigers,
Warsaw,
The Moody Blues,
Gang Gang Dance,
Harpers Bizarre,
Soft Machine,
The Index,
The Gun Club,
Yaz,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Grey Daturas,
Pole,
Cymande,
H. Thieme,
Matthew Bourne,
Michelle Simonal,
David Bowie,
LL Cool J,
Max Romeo,
Buzzcocks,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Tropical Tobacco,
Black Pus,
Slick Rick,
OOIOO,
Q and Not U,
48th St. Collective,
John Holt,
A Certain Ratio,
Flash Fearless,
DJ Sneak,
Marshall Jefferson,
Youth Brigade,
Roxy Music,
Gastr Del Sol,
Wings,
T. Rex,
The Names,
Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode.
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.