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 Malawi and from Bremen.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 cv313 to the rap 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 X-101. All the underground hits.
All Soul Sonic Force tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Angels of Light record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fela Kuti record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grandmaster Flash,
Andrew Hill,
The Beau Brummels,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Sun City Girls,
ABBA,
Excepter,
Roxette,
Frankie Knuckles,
Gang Starr,
FM Einheit,
Johnny Osbourne,
Bob Dylan,
Derrick Morgan,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Boogie Down Productions,
H. Thieme,
The Happenings,
The Dirtbombs,
Janne Schatter,
Bobby Byrd,
Guru Guru,
Marvin Gaye,
Robert Görl,
Morten Harket,
Junior Murvin,
Brass Construction,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Tommy Roe,
Rites of Spring,
EPMD,
Eric B and Rakim,
Colin Newman,
Joe Smooth,
Easy Going,
DNA,
Anakelly,
Gil Scott Heron,
Tubeway Army,
Public Image Ltd.,
Yellowson,
The Music Machine,
Bootsy Collins,
Siglo XX,
Black Bananas,
The Doors,
Althea and Donna,
Bill Near,
The Skatalites,
Clear Light,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Parry Music,
Lightning Bolt,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
the Slits,
Jawbox,
Marine Girls,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Moss Icon,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
A Certain Ratio,
The Birthday Party,
Black Moon, Black Moon, Black Moon, Black Moon.
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.