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 Tehran.
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 Winnipeg and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Joyce Sims to the disco 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 Lucky Dragons. All the underground hits.
All Beasts of Bourbon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Echospace record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Popol Vuh record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Matthew Halsall,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Toasters,
John Foxx,
Lou Reed,
Youth Brigade,
Outsiders,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Mary Jane Girls,
Aaron Thompson,
Bobby Sherman,
B.T. Express,
Easy Going,
Hardrive,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Procol Harum,
Sonny Sharrock,
Todd Rundgren,
Saccharine Trust,
Parry Music,
Unwound,
L. Decosne,
Pierre Henry,
One Last Wish,
Todd Terry,
8 Eyed Spy,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Harmonia,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Evens,
Eli Mardock,
Q65,
Hot Snakes,
MC5,
New York Dolls,
Freddie Wadling,
Roxy Music,
The Beau Brummels,
Cal Tjader,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Five Americans,
Nico,
Tres Demented,
Pylon,
Cecil Taylor,
Ronan,
K-Klass,
June of 44,
the Sonics,
Hasil Adkins,
Alton Ellis,
Brick,
Juan Atkins,
Circle Jerks,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Dirtbombs,
Little Man,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Section 25,
Das Ding,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Avey Tare,
Albert Ayler,
Drexciya, Drexciya, Drexciya, Drexciya.
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.