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 Norway and from Paris.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Echo & the Bunnymen to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Godley & Creme. All the underground hits.
All Mark Hollis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Zero Boys record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Vladislav Delay record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Modern Lovers,
Yellowson,
Lindisfarne,
Radio Birdman,
The Golliwogs,
DJ Sneak,
Nas,
Cybotron,
Underground Resistance,
Davy DMX,
Jawbox,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Prince Buster,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Talk Talk,
Guru Guru,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Pet Shop Boys,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Audionom,
Boogie Down Productions,
Fear,
Camouflage,
Niagra,
Jeru the Damaja,
Grauzone,
Bizarre Inc.,
Hoover,
the Bar-Kays,
Shuggie Otis,
X-Ray Spex,
Urselle,
Mission of Burma,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Marine Girls,
The Names,
The Detroit Cobras,
LL Cool J,
Unwound,
Donny Hathaway,
Theoretical Girls,
Monks,
World's Most,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Technova,
Public Enemy,
The United States of America,
Pere Ubu,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Ice-T,
Sam Rivers,
Radiopuhelimet,
Mary Jane Girls,
Chrome,
Terrestrial Tones,
Grandmaster Flash,
OOIOO,
The Smoke,
Rites of Spring,
the Sonics,
The Busters, The Busters, The Busters, The Busters.
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.