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 Mongolia and from Mumbai.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the mellotron 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 The Dirtbombs to the crunk 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 Nico. All the underground hits.
All The Divine Comedy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Trumans Water 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Pretty Things record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator 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 Associates,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Sonics,
Boredoms,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Moss Icon,
Skaos,
Cameo,
Bronski Beat,
ABBA,
Metal Thangz,
Lindisfarne,
Moby Grape,
D'Angelo,
Magazine,
Radiohead,
Popol Vuh,
Ken Boothe,
Wolf Eyes,
Crime,
Massinfluence,
Gregory Isaacs,
Carl Craig,
The Human League,
DJ Style,
Bob Dylan,
Mandrill,
Stetsasonic,
John Foxx,
Ohio Players,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Juan Atkins,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Warren Ellis,
10cc,
Unwound,
The Fugs,
Boogie Down Productions,
Black Sheep,
Gabor Szabo,
The Velvet Underground,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Grauzone,
Robert Wyatt,
Stiv Bators,
Harry Pussy,
Cymande,
Johnny Clarke,
PIL,
Cecil Taylor,
Erasure,
Depeche Mode,
Wings,
H. Thieme,
Simply Red,
Kerri Chandler,
Parry Music,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Johnny Osbourne,
Ice-T,
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.