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 Cambodia and from Seoul.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Sun City Girls to the disco kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Sly & The Family Stone. All the underground hits.
All Leonard Cohen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Hashim 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swell Maps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Janne Schatter,
The Fire Engines,
KRS-One,
Young Marble Giants,
X-Ray Spex,
Depeche Mode,
Basic Channel,
Marvin Gaye,
Colin Newman,
Lee Hazlewood,
June of 44,
Bobby Womack,
Prince Buster,
Lakeside,
Pagans,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
ABC,
Maurizio,
Radiopuhelimet,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Kayak,
Mantronix,
Donny Hathaway,
DNA,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Blossom Toes,
Ten City,
The Names,
Newcleus,
Bad Manners,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Nico,
Bob Dylan,
Kerri Chandler,
Kool Moe Dee,
Whodini,
Fad Gadget,
The Knickerbockers,
New Order,
The Electric Prunes,
Sonny Sharrock,
Sister Nancy,
Marine Girls,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Eric B and Rakim,
Lucky Dragons,
The Slits,
Harpers Bizarre,
Surgeon,
Ornette Coleman,
Roxy Music,
Minny Pops,
Radiohead,
Scan 7,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Angry Samoans,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
U.S. Maple,
Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks.
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.