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 Australia and from Houston.
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 1968 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 synthesizer 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 Talk Talk 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 Selector Dub Narcotic. All the underground hits.
All Yazoo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Invisible 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Yellowson,
The Young Rascals,
Whodini,
Cheater Slicks,
Hoover,
Glenn Branca,
Deakin,
the Human League,
Hasil Adkins,
New York Dolls,
FM Einheit,
The Stooges,
David McCallum,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Eden Ahbez,
Nils Olav,
Supertramp,
Babytalk,
Urselle,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Cameo,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Dark Day,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Sällskapet,
Tropical Tobacco,
Graham Central Station,
The Shadows of Knight,
The Red Krayola,
Nick Fraelich,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Brick,
Sarah Menescal,
Swans,
The J.B.'s,
Peter & Gordon,
Buzzcocks,
The Toasters,
Idris Muhammad,
48th St. Collective,
Joyce Sims,
Aloha Tigers,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Popol Vuh,
Ohio Players,
Angry Samoans,
Maurizio,
Television,
Joensuu 1685,
Malaria!,
Junior Murvin,
Brothers Johnson,
Tom Boy,
Grauzone,
Black Sheep,
Tears for Fears,
Delta 5,
Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne.
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.