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 Zimbabwe and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1962 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Holger Czukay 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 Kool Moe Dee to the disco kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Skatalites. All the underground hits.
All The Standells tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Piero Umiliani record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Red Lorry Yellow Lorry record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fugazi,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Minor Threat,
Metal Thangz,
Nico,
Joensuu 1685,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Gil Scott Heron,
Gang Gang Dance,
Talk Talk,
The Human League,
Erykah Badu,
Matthew Bourne,
A Certain Ratio,
Camberwell Now,
Neu!,
F. McDonald,
The Beau Brummels,
Pagans,
Soul II Soul,
Curtis Mayfield,
Barry Ungar,
Japan,
Lindisfarne,
Au Pairs,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Faust,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Bill Near,
Lebanon Hanover,
Minny Pops,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Golliwogs,
Al Stewart,
Model 500,
L. Decosne,
Brass Construction,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Aswad,
The Smoke,
Lou Reed,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Scion,
The Index,
Morten Harket,
Thee Headcoats,
David Bowie,
Flipper,
The Martian,
the Human League,
Fad Gadget,
The Alarm Clocks,
Cluster,
Kool Moe Dee,
D'Angelo,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Kerrie Biddell,
Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins.
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.