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 Japan and from Shanghai.
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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Lagos.
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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
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 The Red Krayola to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 MC5. All the underground hits.
All Kayak tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mandrill record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gang of Four record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Whodini,
Joy Division,
Fad Gadget,
E-Dancer,
Clear Light,
OOIOO,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Toasters,
X-Ray Spex,
Delon & Dalcan,
Jeff Mills,
Panda Bear,
Joyce Sims,
Minny Pops,
Wasted Youth,
B.T. Express,
The Cowsills,
Neil Young,
Flipper,
Ralphi Rosario,
Traffic Nightmare,
Kayak,
Spandau Ballet,
Glenn Branca,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Velvet Underground,
The Mummies,
Chris & Cosey,
the Fania All-Stars,
Max Romeo,
Y Pants,
Japan,
Public Enemy,
FM Einheit,
D'Angelo,
Theoretical Girls,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Fall,
F. McDonald,
Pharoah Sanders,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Real Kids,
Tim Buckley,
Maleditus Sound,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Throbbing Gristle,
Donald Byrd,
Peter & Gordon,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Standells,
The Birthday Party,
Minor Threat,
Avey Tare,
Stetsasonic,
Marmalade,
Guru Guru,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Electric Prunes,
Easy Going,
Hoover, Hoover, Hoover, Hoover.
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.