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 Zambia and from Portland.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Sugar Minott to the rock 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 Harpers Bizarre. All the underground hits.
All The Peanut Butter Conspiracy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barclay James Harvest 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 theremin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kango’s Stein Massive record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum 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 Zeros,
Little Man,
Blancmange,
Rhythm & Sound,
Grauzone,
Desert Stars,
Funky Four + One,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Eli Mardock,
Banda Bassotti,
Barbara Tucker,
Alphaville,
Althea and Donna,
Jacques Brel,
The Dave Clark Five,
Bang On A Can,
T.S.O.L.,
Eden Ahbez,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Bobby Womack,
Slick Rick,
Joe Finger,
Drexciya,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Star Department,
The New Christs,
the Swans,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Scan 7,
Crime,
The Sound,
Angry Samoans,
Barry Ungar,
Masters at Work,
Jawbox,
John Lydon,
Howard Jones,
Lebanon Hanover,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Tremeloes,
Glambeats Corp.,
Y Pants,
Matthew Bourne,
Shuggie Otis,
MDC,
Freddie Wadling,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Blossom Toes,
Eve St. Jones,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Liliput,
Crash Course in Science,
the Sonics,
Gerry Rafferty,
Lungfish,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fear,
The Wake,
Minnie Riperton,
Delta 5,
Throbbing Gristle,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants.
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.