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 Brunei and from Cairo.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 theremin 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 Cramps 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 Mary Jane Girls. All the underground hits.
All Little Man tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every June of 44 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sällskapet record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grandmaster Flash,
Barry Ungar,
The Cramps,
Brass Construction,
Hardrive,
Adolescents,
The Fortunes,
Juan Atkins,
a-ha,
The Toasters,
Bobby Womack,
The Wake,
Bobby Byrd,
Anakelly,
Vainqueur,
Popol Vuh,
Public Enemy,
The Buckinghams,
Alison Limerick,
Loose Ends,
the Sonics,
The Mummies,
The Pop Group,
Index,
Mantronix,
Jandek,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Los Fastidios,
Flamin' Groovies,
Black Moon,
Gang Starr,
ABC,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Mars,
Ossler,
JFA,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Youth Brigade,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Erasure,
Peter and Kerry,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Sun City Girls,
Pantaleimon,
Maleditus Sound,
Scan 7,
D'Angelo,
The Gun Club,
Matthew Halsall,
Zero Boys,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Pretty Things,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Grass Roots,
Radiohead,
Circle Jerks,
Flipper,
Jesper Dahlback,
Minor Threat,
Depeche Mode,
Freddie Wadling,
The Residents, The Residents, The Residents, The Residents.
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.