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 Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Lyon.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 June Days to the punk 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 Lindisfarne. All the underground hits.
All The Men They Couldn't Hang tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Richard Hell and the Voidoids 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soft Machine record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
New Order,
Bush Tetras,
Slave,
Josef K,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Theoretical Girls,
Altered Images,
Michelle Simonal,
The Raincoats,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Grass Roots,
Alton Ellis,
June of 44,
Robert Hood,
Mo-Dettes,
Kerri Chandler,
Absolute Body Control,
The Misunderstood,
The Five Americans,
Oneida,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Carl Craig,
Circle Jerks,
Japan,
Minny Pops,
Buzzcocks,
Minor Threat,
Fugazi,
The Names,
Crash Course in Science,
Bill Near,
Eli Mardock,
Jacques Brel,
Trumans Water,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
FM Einheit,
Ohio Players,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Marmalade,
Glambeats Corp.,
Nas,
Sister Nancy,
Todd Rundgren,
Warsaw,
Faraquet,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Lucky Dragons,
Fela Kuti,
Freddie Wadling,
Spoonie Gee,
Lyres,
Camouflage,
Jimmy McGriff,
One Last Wish,
Popol Vuh,
Tom Boy,
Iggy Pop,
Ludus,
Qualms,
Babytalk, Babytalk, Babytalk, Babytalk.
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.