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 Guyana and from Copenhagen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Hashim to the funk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Nation of Ulysses. All the underground hits.
All Wire tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Yellowson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jandek,
Mark Hollis,
Deadbeat,
Freddie Wadling,
Tres Demented,
Scion,
The Knickerbockers,
Mantronix,
Pagans,
Ossler,
Arcadia,
Quantec,
Marc Almond,
Unrelated Segments,
Mr. Review,
the Human League,
Deepchord,
The Fugs,
Wings,
Neu!,
Public Image Ltd.,
Bad Manners,
Mad Mike,
The Flesh Eaters,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Smiths,
The Gories,
Althea and Donna,
Erasure,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Pop Group,
Con Funk Shun,
Steve Hackett,
Sparks,
Barbara Tucker,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Invisible,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Mary Jane Girls,
Monolake,
Alice Coltrane,
Eric Dolphy,
Amon Düül II,
The Five Americans,
Curtis Mayfield,
Terrestrial Tones,
Michelle Simonal,
Thee Headcoats,
Lindisfarne,
FM Einheit,
The Misunderstood,
John Cale,
Kayak,
Moby Grape,
Kevin Saunderson,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Sex Pistols,
Drive Like Jehu,
Marshall Jefferson,
Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye.
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.