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 Nigeria and from Edmonton.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the oboe 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 The Jesus and Mary Chain to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Rotary Connection. All the underground hits.
All Public Enemy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Accadde A record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dual Sessions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soft Machine,
Faraquet,
Ponytail,
Albert Ayler,
Mark Hollis,
Sam Rivers,
Laurel Aitken,
Barrington Levy,
cv313,
Sarah Menescal,
Pole,
Dark Day,
B.T. Express,
The Five Americans,
Lungfish,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Supertramp,
OOIOO,
Idris Muhammad,
Joey Negro,
Lee Hazlewood,
The Divine Comedy,
Urselle,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Soulsonic Force,
K-Klass,
Monolake,
Deakin,
Jeff Mills,
Carl Craig,
Nico,
The Trojans,
Porter Ricks,
Dave Gahan,
Jimmy McGriff,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
The Star Department,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Organ,
The Golliwogs,
Max Romeo,
the Fania All-Stars,
Morten Harket,
Wire,
Goldenarms,
Bauhaus,
Judy Mowatt,
Trumans Water,
Infiniti,
Hasil Adkins,
Robert Görl,
Be Bop Deluxe,
David Bowie,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Warsaw,
The Blackbyrds,
June of 44,
Flash Fearless,
The Litter, The Litter, The Litter, The Litter.
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.