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 Tanzania and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 synthesizer 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 Tubeway Army to the jazz 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 London Community Gospel Choir. All the underground hits.
All Soft Cell tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Shuggie Otis record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 Vainqueur record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Black Sheep,
Bill Wells,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Thompson Twins,
Jeff Lynne,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Real Kids,
Jawbox,
Absolute Body Control,
Ronan,
Con Funk Shun,
Patti Smith,
The Neon Judgement,
Big Daddy Kane,
UT,
Amazonics,
Girls At Our Best!,
The Slackers,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Dead C,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Das Ding,
Cal Tjader,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Terrestrial Tones,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Detroit Cobras,
Peter & Gordon,
Los Fastidios,
Depeche Mode,
Shuggie Otis,
The Sound,
Main Source,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Pagans,
Chris Corsano,
The Skatalites,
The Leaves,
Rekid,
Jeru the Damaja,
Cybotron,
Easy Going,
Ultra Naté,
Lower 48,
The Busters,
Idris Muhammad,
Little Man,
Michelle Simonal,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Max Romeo,
the Slits,
Letta Mbulu,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Todd Rundgren,
Vainqueur,
The Wake,
The J.B.'s,
Television Personalities,
Metal Thangz,
Sandy B,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Kayak,
Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls.
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.