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 Maldives and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage 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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Jakarta.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Half Japanese to the funk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Trojans. All the underground hits.
All Soul II Soul tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Althea and Donna record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric B and Rakim record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lightning Bolt,
Shuggie Otis,
Rotary Connection,
Little Man,
Throbbing Gristle,
AZ,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Blancmange,
Dual Sessions,
This Heat,
X-102,
Pere Ubu,
Tubeway Army,
Rhythm & Sound,
Bad Manners,
Jandek,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Marine Girls,
Marvin Gaye,
John Cale,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Electric Prunes,
Ludus,
MDC,
Goldenarms,
Easy Going,
Morten Harket,
Glambeats Corp.,
Guru Guru,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Gabor Szabo,
Swans,
The Index,
Radiohead,
Bill Wells,
the Human League,
Altered Images,
Half Japanese,
Procol Harum,
Nirvana,
In Retrospect,
Popol Vuh,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Monolake,
Technova,
Vainqueur,
David McCallum,
Lucky Dragons,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Babytalk,
Tommy Roe,
Alison Limerick,
Chris Corsano,
Soulsonic Force,
Cabaret Voltaire,
A Certain Ratio,
Lindisfarne,
Joey Negro,
CMW,
Nik Kershaw,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
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.