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 Poland and from Columbus.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Radiopuhelimet to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bronski Beat. All the underground hits.
All Justin Hinds & The Dominoes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every June Days 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spandau Ballet record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Unwound,
Urselle,
Pylon,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
the Soft Cell,
Symarip,
Wire,
Don Cherry,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Cal Tjader,
Graham Central Station,
Moss Icon,
Cybotron,
ABC,
Suburban Knight,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Pulsallama,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Josef K,
Big Daddy Kane,
The New Christs,
EPMD,
Jeru the Damaja,
Nas,
John Holt,
Eurythmics,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Leaves,
Johnny Clarke,
Darondo,
Thompson Twins,
Essential Logic,
Kaleidoscope,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Soulsonic Force,
Janne Schatter,
Subhumans,
Joe Finger,
F. McDonald,
Eric B and Rakim,
Quadrant,
The Names,
the Slits,
Easy Going,
Fad Gadget,
Patti Smith,
Joy Division,
The Busters,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Qualms,
Crooked Eye,
Glambeats Corp.,
Stockholm Monsters,
Sparks,
Black Sheep,
Marvin Gaye,
The Flesh Eaters,
Blossom Toes,
Robert Wyatt,
These Immortal Souls,
MC5,
Television, Television, Television, Television.
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.