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 Fiji and from Sao Paulo.
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 Glasgow and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 Captain Beefheart 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 Sandy B to the electroclash kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Angry Samoans. All the underground hits.
All Jeff Mills tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sparks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 marimba and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Section 25 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Neil Young,
Todd Terry,
Banda Bassotti,
Symarip,
MDC,
Negative Approach,
The Dave Clark Five,
Yusef Lateef,
Icehouse,
Albert Ayler,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Drexciya,
Altered Images,
Tom Boy,
Oblivians,
Nick Fraelich,
Marcia Griffiths,
Dead Boys,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
DJ Sneak,
The Slackers,
Toni Rubio,
Technova,
The Sound,
Suburban Knight,
Tears for Fears,
Soulsonic Force,
Steve Hackett,
Fugazi,
Mo-Dettes,
Barrington Levy,
Dark Day,
Reuben Wilson,
Agent Orange,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Mark Hollis,
The Human League,
ABBA,
Mr. Review,
The Buckinghams,
Can,
Silicon Teens,
Heaven 17,
The Angels of Light,
Au Pairs,
Colin Newman,
These Immortal Souls,
The Young Rascals,
Pantaleimon,
Tim Buckley,
Eric B and Rakim,
Porter Ricks,
The Fortunes,
Junior Murvin,
Judy Mowatt,
Ohio Players,
Bobby Sherman,
The Neon Judgement,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
the Association,
La Düsseldorf,
Theoretical Girls,
Eric Copeland,
UT, UT, UT, UT.
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.