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 Togo and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in London.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 harpsichord 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 Modern Lovers 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 Theoretical Girls. All the underground hits.
All Sugar Minott tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pylon 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 a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bobby Hutcherson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Donald Byrd,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Stiv Bators,
Joe Finger,
The Blackbyrds,
Neu!,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Gun Club,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Skarface,
Fad Gadget,
Popol Vuh,
Crash Course in Science,
10cc,
Grandmaster Flash,
Jeru the Damaja,
Pantytec,
Bang On A Can,
T.S.O.L.,
the Sonics,
David McCallum,
The Golliwogs,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Guru Guru,
Lucky Dragons,
Smog,
Parry Music,
Joey Negro,
Television Personalities,
Agitation Free,
Public Enemy,
FM Einheit,
Half Japanese,
X-Ray Spex,
Q and Not U,
John Foxx,
The Slackers,
Alison Limerick,
Donny Hathaway,
Lee Hazlewood,
The Music Machine,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Average White Band,
Underground Resistance,
R.M.O.,
Dawn Penn,
Yellowson,
Aural Exciters,
Skaos,
the Germs,
Shuggie Otis,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Matthew Halsall,
Jeff Mills,
Camberwell Now,
MDC,
Duran Duran,
Thompson Twins,
Jesper Dahlback,
Junior Murvin,
Bad Manners,
John Holt, John Holt, John Holt, John Holt.
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.