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 Cameroon 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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 arpeggiator 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 Black Flag to the disco 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 Cabaret Voltaire. All the underground hits.
All Andrew Hill tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jeff Lynne 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fatback Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Simply Red,
Audionom,
Joy Division,
The Cowsills,
Ituana,
Matthew Bourne,
Whodini,
Bronski Beat,
The Flesh Eaters,
Archie Shepp,
Frankie Knuckles,
Crime,
Deadbeat,
Mo-Dettes,
Au Pairs,
The Real Kids,
Harry Pussy,
Sandy B,
Lalo Schifrin,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Trojans,
Niagra,
Zero Boys,
Yellowson,
Basic Channel,
Groovy Waters,
Junior Murvin,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Mark Hollis,
Reagan Youth,
Banda Bassotti,
Erykah Badu,
Flipper,
Godley & Creme,
Peter and Kerry,
Ohio Players,
Steve Hackett,
The Angels of Light,
New Order,
Judy Mowatt,
Black Flag,
Hasil Adkins,
Lightning Bolt,
Dead Boys,
The Fuzztones,
The Detroit Cobras,
Rites of Spring,
Peter & Gordon,
The Invisible,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Inner City,
The Birthday Party,
Faust,
Janne Schatter,
Smog,
Rhythm & Sound,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Kayak, Kayak, Kayak, Kayak.
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.