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 Congo and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Stetsasonic to the crunk 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 Freddie Wadling. All the underground hits.
All Tom Boy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every A Flock of Seagulls record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Star Department record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Glambeats Corp.,
Piero Umiliani,
The Monochrome Set,
John Foxx,
Kayak,
Aaron Thompson,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Litter,
Eurythmics,
Second Layer,
Tubeway Army,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Girls At Our Best!,
Marshall Jefferson,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Mandrill,
Ludus,
Brothers Johnson,
Iggy Pop,
June of 44,
Wolf Eyes,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Danielle Patucci,
Section 25,
The Offenders,
Lee Hazlewood,
Buzzcocks,
Skaos,
Josef K,
Patti Smith,
Funky Four + One,
The Gun Club,
Index,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Mojo Men,
Sex Pistols,
Outsiders,
Al Stewart,
Carl Craig,
Todd Terry,
The Mummies,
Boogie Down Productions,
Eric Dolphy,
The Associates,
Nico,
Gang of Four,
The Cure,
Gang Green,
Jeff Lynne,
Derrick May,
In Retrospect,
Oneida,
Duran Duran,
Minny Pops,
Bobby Byrd,
These Immortal Souls,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Ponytail,
Glenn Branca,
Underground Resistance,
Blancmange,
Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler.
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.