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 Iceland and from Seoul.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1976 at the first Buzzcocks practice in a loft in Bolton.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 The Five Americans to the rock 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 10cc. All the underground hits.
All Pantytec tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Sonics record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 spring reverb and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lower 48 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soft Cell,
Joe Finger,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Buzzcocks,
Donny Hathaway,
T. Rex,
Vainqueur,
Michelle Simonal,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
the Slits,
Brothers Johnson,
Y Pants,
The Barracudas,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Matthew Bourne,
Wally Richardson,
DNA,
LL Cool J,
Rhythm & Sound,
Sugar Minott,
The Blackbyrds,
Stiv Bators,
John Cale,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
CMW,
Roxette,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Maleditus Sound,
Marvin Gaye,
Janne Schatter,
Todd Terry,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Television Personalities,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Mo-Dettes,
Jimmy McGriff,
Vladislav Delay,
Jerry's Kids,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Q65,
In Retrospect,
Drive Like Jehu,
Bang On A Can,
Symarip,
The Moody Blues,
Sandy B,
Ohio Players,
Marine Girls,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Al Stewart,
Flipper,
Absolute Body Control,
Kerri Chandler,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Clear Light,
Lakeside,
Throbbing Gristle,
Hashim,
Charles Mingus,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis, Mark Hollis.
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.