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 Djibouti and from Portland.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the 808 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 The Walker Brothers to the punk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 the Bar-Kays. All the underground hits.
All Model 500 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mark Hollis 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ultimate Spinach record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Quando Quango,
Zero Boys,
Bobby Byrd,
Oblivians,
Ohio Players,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Section 25,
Japan,
Bill Wells,
Fat Boys,
Alphaville,
Ronan,
Jeff Lynne,
Deakin,
Smog,
Lightning Bolt,
Buzzcocks,
Dennis Brown,
Grauzone,
Dual Sessions,
Masters at Work,
Deepchord,
The Skatalites,
Intrusion,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Nils Olav,
Magma,
Boogie Down Productions,
Drive Like Jehu,
Peter and Kerry,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
DNA,
Monolake,
Minny Pops,
Faraquet,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Gories,
Black Moon,
Bad Manners,
the Association,
Rod Modell,
PIL,
Lyres,
The Tremeloes,
Television Personalities,
the Germs,
Kool Moe Dee,
Gong,
Crooked Eye,
Joy Division,
June Days,
Graham Central Station,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Golliwogs,
Patti Smith,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Darondo,
Shoche,
Panda Bear,
Cheater Slicks,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Associates,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.