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 East Timor and from Lagos.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
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 Dennis Brown to the punk 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 Minutemen. All the underground hits.
All Moebius tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Residents 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott Heron record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jerry's Kids,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Toasters,
Blake Baxter,
The New Christs,
The Fortunes,
Barry Ungar,
Bluetip,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Delon & Dalcan,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Real Kids,
Amazonics,
D'Angelo,
John Lydon,
Sex Pistols,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Star Department,
Nils Olav,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Depeche Mode,
Second Layer,
Excepter,
Sight & Sound,
Leonard Cohen,
Talk Talk,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Ronnie Foster,
T. Rex,
The Five Americans,
Scion,
Sällskapet,
UT,
Fela Kuti,
Swell Maps,
The J.B.'s,
Glambeats Corp.,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Toni Rubio,
Sun Ra,
New Order,
PIL,
Derrick Morgan,
Guru Guru,
Eli Mardock,
Freddie Wadling,
Pantaleimon,
Tubeway Army,
Eric B and Rakim,
Marvin Gaye,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Fugs,
Monks,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Scientists,
Youth Brigade,
Model 500,
The Birthday Party,
Animal Collective,
Public Enemy,
Sparks,
Zapp,
Radiopuhelimet, Radiopuhelimet, Radiopuhelimet, Radiopuhelimet.
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.