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 Swaziland and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Fad Gadget to the punk 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 Peter & Gordon. All the underground hits.
All Chris & Cosey tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Vaughan Mason & Crew record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pulsallama record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Erykah Badu,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Slackers,
Intrusion,
The Smoke,
The American Breed,
Sight & Sound,
Henry Cow,
The Fire Engines,
Nas,
The Zeros,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Electric Prunes,
Susan Cadogan,
Visage,
Colin Newman,
Silicon Teens,
A Certain Ratio,
Crime,
MDC,
the Slits,
Joensuu 1685,
Black Sheep,
Gastr Del Sol,
Gang Starr,
Funkadelic,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Niagra,
Newcleus,
Adolescents,
The Alarm Clocks,
Barry Ungar,
The Motions,
The Real Kids,
The Mummies,
Subhumans,
Radiohead,
Scratch Acid,
Gang of Four,
The Gladiators,
Cal Tjader,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Moody Blues,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Dark Day,
Model 500,
Spoonie Gee,
Depeche Mode,
Marmalade,
The Dead C,
Don Cherry,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
June of 44,
Marshall Jefferson,
Soul Sonic Force,
Urselle,
Easy Going,
Agent Orange, Agent Orange, Agent Orange, Agent Orange.
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.