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 Libya and from Philadelphia.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Accra.
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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Jesper Dahlbäck to the techno kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Angels of Light & Akron/Family. All the underground hits.
All Mandrill tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Simply Red record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kevin Saunderson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scrapy,
The Buckinghams,
Metal Thangz,
a-ha,
Yusef Lateef,
Barclay James Harvest,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Robert Hood,
Glenn Branca,
Clear Light,
Tears for Fears,
Eurythmics,
The Trojans,
Joey Negro,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Knickerbockers,
Judy Mowatt,
The Martian,
The Blackbyrds,
Todd Terry,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Kerri Chandler,
Gong,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Ohio Players,
Bobby Byrd,
Marshall Jefferson,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Monks,
Crash Course in Science,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Minnie Riperton,
Boz Scaggs,
Can,
Unwound,
Ponytail,
The Black Dice,
New Age Steppers,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Chris & Cosey,
The Searchers,
Motorama,
Sparks,
Spandau Ballet,
Sixth Finger,
Tom Boy,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Fear,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Drexciya,
Aural Exciters,
Masters at Work,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Robert Wyatt,
Parry Music,
Alison Limerick,
Technova,
Goldenarms,
Intrusion,
Ludus,
Sex Pistols,
Suicide, Suicide, Suicide, Suicide.
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.