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 Tonga and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Soulsonic Force to the jazz kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Laurel Aitken. All the underground hits.
All A Certain Ratio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Television 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 an oboe and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Anakelly record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Theoretical Girls,
Cal Tjader,
Gastr Del Sol,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Television Personalities,
Erykah Badu,
The Birthday Party,
Pere Ubu,
The Cowsills,
Section 25,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Rufus Thomas,
Audionom,
Gil Scott Heron,
Scion,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Sex Pistols,
Au Pairs,
Crime,
Lee Hazlewood,
Todd Terry,
Soulsonic Force,
Underground Resistance,
Eli Mardock,
Mantronix,
Maleditus Sound,
Malaria!,
Godley & Creme,
Groovy Waters,
Lebanon Hanover,
Chrome,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Joensuu 1685,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Avey Tare,
John Lydon,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
cv313,
Public Image Ltd.,
Barclay James Harvest,
In Retrospect,
Reagan Youth,
Index,
Freddie Wadling,
The Grass Roots,
The Black Dice,
Sonic Youth,
Desert Stars,
Fat Boys,
Main Source,
Rod Modell,
Aural Exciters,
David Axelrod,
The Leaves,
The Fortunes,
Circle Jerks,
the Fania All-Stars,
Metal Thangz,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Sound,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids, The Real Kids.
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.