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 Jamaica and from Manchester.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Terrestrial Tones to the electroclash kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Matthew Halsall. All the underground hits.
All Theoretical Girls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joey Negro record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 guitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Red Krayola record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Fania All-Stars,
The Residents,
Ohio Players,
The Dirtbombs,
Colin Newman,
Wasted Youth,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Electric Prunes,
Section 25,
Ralphi Rosario,
Sixth Finger,
Bobby Byrd,
KRS-One,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Names,
Reuben Wilson,
Dead Boys,
Leonard Cohen,
Stetsasonic,
Mary Jane Girls,
June Days,
Oblivians,
Alphaville,
Aloha Tigers,
Maleditus Sound,
Glenn Branca,
Flash Fearless,
Main Source,
Deadbeat,
Fat Boys,
Clear Light,
Erykah Badu,
The Raincoats,
Graham Central Station,
Joe Smooth,
Hoover,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Oneida,
The Fugs,
Flamin' Groovies,
Moby Grape,
The Blues Magoos,
Moebius,
Sandy B,
The Seeds,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Robert Hood,
Marcia Griffiths,
Heaven 17,
Sun City Girls,
Cluster,
Icehouse,
The Searchers,
Donny Hathaway,
Fear,
Crooked Eye,
Chris & Cosey,
Average White Band,
Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock.
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.