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 Tuvalu and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Sällskapet to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Swans. All the underground hits.
All The Dave Clark Five tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pet Shop Boys record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Index record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Black Pus,
The Durutti Column,
The Gladiators,
Fela Kuti,
The Searchers,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Loose Ends,
Monolake,
Morten Harket,
Depeche Mode,
Pole,
Derrick May,
Deakin,
Minny Pops,
Isaac Hayes,
Drexciya,
Faust,
Laurel Aitken,
Henry Cow,
Donny Hathaway,
Sam Rivers,
Stockholm Monsters,
Hasil Adkins,
Beasts of Bourbon,
DNA,
Smog,
The Grass Roots,
Ronnie Foster,
The Evens,
The Dirtbombs,
The Toasters,
Matthew Halsall,
Nico,
The Martian,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Q65,
Agent Orange,
Negative Approach,
The Alarm Clocks,
Rod Modell,
Infiniti,
Basic Channel,
Pet Shop Boys,
the Swans,
Moss Icon,
Jawbox,
The Birthday Party,
Siglo XX,
Au Pairs,
T.S.O.L.,
The Index,
Ultimate Spinach,
Fatback Band,
Technova,
The Slits,
Motorama,
Sister Nancy,
MC5,
Second Layer,
The New Christs,
The Residents, The Residents, The Residents, The Residents.
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.