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 Guyana 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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Robert Görl to the techno 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 LL Cool J. All the underground hits.
All De La Soul & Jungle Brothers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Birthday Party record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 güiro and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rotary Connection record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Spandau Ballet,
Alphaville,
ABC,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Ten City,
Steve Hackett,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Masters at Work,
Rosa Yemen,
Heaven 17,
U.S. Maple,
Smog,
Mars,
Amon Düül,
Sonny Sharrock,
Kerri Chandler,
Cameo,
Danielle Patucci,
Avey Tare,
Joyce Sims,
Jandek,
Mo-Dettes,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Motorama,
the Soft Cell,
Godley & Creme,
Crash Course in Science,
Ludus,
Siglo XX,
Ornette Coleman,
The Walker Brothers,
The Dead C,
Blancmange,
Japan,
Lightning Bolt,
Shoche,
Parry Music,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
David Bowie,
The Slits,
The Detroit Cobras,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Slick Rick,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Marvin Gaye,
Shuggie Otis,
Bill Near,
The Buckinghams,
Scratch Acid,
The Saints,
Grandmaster Flash,
Fear,
Kerrie Biddell,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Techniques,
Anthony Braxton,
Liliput,
Eli Mardock,
The Skatalites,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Sound Behaviour, Sound Behaviour, Sound Behaviour, Sound Behaviour.
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.