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 Bolivia and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1967 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 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 Shuggie Otis to the dance kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 H. Thieme. All the underground hits.
All Eyeless In Gaza tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Gladiators record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Subhumans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Wire,
The Dirtbombs,
Rod Modell,
Kerri Chandler,
Shoche,
Hasil Adkins,
Barry Ungar,
T. Rex,
Bill Wells,
Soft Machine,
cv313,
Jacob Miller,
Stereo Dub,
Anakelly,
Delta 5,
A Certain Ratio,
Erykah Badu,
New Order,
Drexciya,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Victims,
Pole,
DNA,
Slave,
Japan,
In Retrospect,
Eve St. Jones,
The Sound,
David McCallum,
The American Breed,
Mission of Burma,
Camberwell Now,
The Fall,
The Birthday Party,
the Slits,
Flipper,
Whodini,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Fatback Band,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Minny Pops,
Delon & Dalcan,
Procol Harum,
Toni Rubio,
The Doobie Brothers,
Sun Ra,
Kenny Larkin,
Von Mondo,
Masters at Work,
Severed Heads,
The Techniques,
Soul Sonic Force,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Stooges,
Lower 48,
The J.B.'s,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Pretty Things,
Lucky Dragons,
Ronan, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.
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.