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 Toronto.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the theremin 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 Judy Mowatt to the rock 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 Fluxion. All the underground hits.
All Traffic Nightmare tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wire record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 808 and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lalann record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nik Kershaw,
Thompson Twins,
Liliput,
Eli Mardock,
Anakelly,
Mr. Review,
Zero Boys,
The Moody Blues,
Oblivians,
Warren Ellis,
Inner City,
Chris & Cosey,
Ossler,
John Lydon,
Dennis Brown,
DJ Style,
Derrick May,
New York Dolls,
Can,
Throbbing Gristle,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Average White Band,
Niagra,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Birthday Party,
The Sonics,
Chrome,
Jerry's Kids,
Silicon Teens,
MDC,
The Techniques,
Qualms,
Cybotron,
Funkadelic,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Lungfish,
Kurtis Blow,
Wolf Eyes,
Crash Course in Science,
Arab on Radar,
Rapeman,
Massinfluence,
Soulsonic Force,
The Residents,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Pantytec,
Pole,
Ohio Players,
Zapp,
Kayak,
Boredoms,
Los Fastidios,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Eddi Front,
Barry Ungar,
Iggy Pop,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid, Scratch Acid.
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.