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 Costa Rica and from Beijing.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Cairo.
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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Rufus Thomas to the funk 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 Amon Düül II. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gang of Four record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 guitar and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a the Normal record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scrapy,
Letta Mbulu,
New York Dolls,
Thompson Twins,
The Stooges,
Alphaville,
The Star Department,
Zapp,
Prince Buster,
Ultimate Spinach,
cv313,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Lungfish,
Al Stewart,
ABC,
Pere Ubu,
Gregory Isaacs,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Man Parrish,
Infiniti,
Hashim,
Gang Gang Dance,
Idris Muhammad,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Marcia Griffiths,
Circle Jerks,
Lakeside,
Pylon,
Roy Ayers,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Drexciya,
Tres Demented,
World's Most,
The Fuzztones,
Rotary Connection,
Half Japanese,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Amon Düül II,
Jerry's Kids,
Cecil Taylor,
Jeff Lynne,
Toni Rubio,
Eric Copeland,
The Seeds,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Vladislav Delay,
Crispian St. Peters,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Amon Düül,
Eve St. Jones,
Sam Rivers,
Cheater Slicks,
Ten City,
Sonic Youth,
Throbbing Gristle,
Black Pus,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Dead C,
New Order,
Monks,
Danielle Patucci, Danielle Patucci, Danielle Patucci, Danielle Patucci.
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.