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 Lesotho and from Philadelphia.
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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 John Cale to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Television. All the underground hits.
All Ludus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ponytail record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Motions,
Scrapy,
Dead Boys,
Zapp,
Sun Ra,
The Sound,
Shoche,
Sonic Youth,
Minor Threat,
K-Klass,
The Gun Club,
Juan Atkins,
Bang On A Can,
Quadrant,
Black Bananas,
Kevin Saunderson,
Supertramp,
Letta Mbulu,
Pantytec,
Pulsallama,
The Pretty Things,
Aloha Tigers,
Rites of Spring,
In Retrospect,
Ossler,
The Associates,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Martian,
Kas Product,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Monolake,
D'Angelo,
Rapeman,
The Walker Brothers,
Minnie Riperton,
Index,
Mad Mike,
Franke,
Amazonics,
Robert Wyatt,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Deadbeat,
Symarip,
Graham Central Station,
Little Man,
The Blackbyrds,
Popol Vuh,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Bluetip,
Technova,
The Techniques,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Royal Trux,
Model 500,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Radiohead,
Lower 48,
Television,
June Days,
The Real Kids,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Index, The Index, The Index, The Index.
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.