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 South Africa and from London.
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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Unrelated Segments to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Pretty Things. All the underground hits.
All Echo & the Bunnymen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ludus record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Von Mondo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Roxy Music,
Lebanon Hanover,
Hot Snakes,
The Leaves,
Juan Atkins,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
James White and The Blacks,
Barry Ungar,
The Detroit Cobras,
Matthew Bourne,
Joensuu 1685,
Yaz,
Section 25,
Magma,
The Golliwogs,
Judy Mowatt,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Idris Muhammad,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Trojans,
Davy DMX,
Second Layer,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Count Five,
Jeff Lynne,
Pussy Galore,
Toni Rubio,
Eric Copeland,
Joy Division,
Audionom,
The Gap Band,
Brick,
Marvin Gaye,
Scratch Acid,
Magazine,
Malaria!,
The Dirtbombs,
Erykah Badu,
Panda Bear,
Camberwell Now,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
UT,
Dennis Brown,
Alice Coltrane,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Fela Kuti,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Deadbeat,
Mantronix,
Pet Shop Boys,
Neil Young,
D'Angelo,
Gong,
Boredoms,
The Kinks,
The Modern Lovers,
Lindisfarne,
Minnie Riperton,
Wire,
Hashim,
Jawbox,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Crash Course in Science,
Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley.
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.