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 China and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Heavy D & The Boyz to the funk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 The Saints. All the underground hits.
All Marmalade tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crispian St. Peters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 theremin and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gichy Dan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Leaves,
Pet Shop Boys,
Fela Kuti,
Bobby Byrd,
Soulsonic Force,
Wings,
Tubeway Army,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Negative Approach,
UT,
Mantronix,
Unrelated Segments,
The Vogues,
Jeff Mills,
Tommy Roe,
Oneida,
Harmonia,
The Divine Comedy,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Eurythmics,
Silicon Teens,
Warsaw,
Ultimate Spinach,
Country Teasers,
Kerri Chandler,
Donald Byrd,
Talk Talk,
The Zeros,
The Music Machine,
the Sonics,
Reagan Youth,
Thee Headcoats,
The Busters,
Matthew Halsall,
Quantec,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Angels of Light,
The Index,
The Raincoats,
Guru Guru,
The Cramps,
Glenn Branca,
The Martian,
Soft Machine,
Rotary Connection,
Zero Boys,
Yellowson,
Henry Cow,
Animal Collective,
The Buckinghams,
Eli Mardock,
Metal Thangz,
Popol Vuh,
The Pop Group,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Q and Not U,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Nation of Ulysses,
Trumans Water, Trumans Water, Trumans Water, Trumans Water.
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.