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 Tajikistan and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1980.
I was there at the first Cybotron show in Detroit.
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 1968 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Tehran.
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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Leonard Cohen to the funk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Donny Hathaway. All the underground hits.
All The Smoke tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every the Bar-Kays record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Offenders record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Human League,
Hardrive,
The Smoke,
Gichy Dan,
Los Fastidios,
Kayak,
Tomorrow,
Young Marble Giants,
Funkadelic,
DJ Style,
The Slits,
The Sonics,
Black Bananas,
Mars,
The Invisible,
Ralphi Rosario,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Monks,
Black Moon,
Minny Pops,
Eli Mardock,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Negative Approach,
Vainqueur,
Darondo,
Schoolly D,
Marc Almond,
Masters at Work,
Idris Muhammad,
Average White Band,
Supertramp,
Radiohead,
Sister Nancy,
Sight & Sound,
Trumans Water,
The Index,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Albert Ayler,
Bauhaus,
Sparks,
Jandek,
A Certain Ratio,
Sun Ra,
Lalo Schifrin,
Con Funk Shun,
Eric B and Rakim,
Newcleus,
Whodini,
Agent Orange,
Flipper,
Girls At Our Best!,
X-Ray Spex,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Soulsonic Force,
Chris Corsano,
Radio Birdman,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Pole,
New Order, New Order, New Order, New Order.
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.