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 Mali and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1965 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Little Man to the rap kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Slits. All the underground hits.
All Simply Red tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Donald Byrd 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mr. Review record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Bar-Kays,
Terrestrial Tones,
Robert Hood,
Camouflage,
Masters at Work,
Amazonics,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Guru Guru,
New York Dolls,
Swell Maps,
Danielle Patucci,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Echospace,
Lebanon Hanover,
Frankie Knuckles,
Spandau Ballet,
Lalann,
8 Eyed Spy,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Barrington Levy,
Sonic Youth,
Schoolly D,
Mr. Review,
Matthew Bourne,
Sun Ra,
Todd Terry,
The Young Rascals,
Steve Hackett,
Make Up,
The Electric Prunes,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Prince Buster,
Spoonie Gee,
Carl Craig,
Flamin' Groovies,
Janne Schatter,
Fort Wilson Riot,
David Bowie,
Fugazi,
Pussy Galore,
Lower 48,
Sällskapet,
PIL,
Gang Gang Dance,
Mantronix,
Terry Callier,
Eve St. Jones,
Johnny Clarke,
Arcadia,
Motorama,
Leonard Cohen,
Altered Images,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Fall,
OOIOO,
Quadrant,
Ornette Coleman,
June Days,
Alton Ellis,
Sister Nancy, Sister Nancy, Sister Nancy, Sister Nancy.
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.