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 Niger and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Paris.
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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Faust to the electroclash 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 Isaac Hayes. All the underground hits.
All Rufus Thomas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lee Hazlewood record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 a sitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a 10cc record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
LL Cool J,
Ralphi Rosario,
Eurythmics,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
In Retrospect,
Althea and Donna,
the Normal,
The Mummies,
Alphaville,
Lalo Schifrin,
Goldenarms,
Livin' Joy,
Porter Ricks,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Funky Four + One,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Agitation Free,
Interpol,
Organ,
The Young Rascals,
Wings,
Erykah Badu,
Outsiders,
The Move,
Pussy Galore,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Nation of Ulysses,
Cal Tjader,
Unwound,
Avey Tare,
Fela Kuti,
The Monochrome Set,
U.S. Maple,
Massinfluence,
Gichy Dan,
Shuggie Otis,
The Saints,
Pagans,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The United States of America,
Desert Stars,
The Knickerbockers,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Tom Boy,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Gabor Szabo,
Kayak,
Radiohead,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Kerri Chandler,
The Busters,
Sex Pistols,
Arcadia,
Zero Boys,
Average White Band,
Sixth Finger,
Model 500, Model 500, Model 500, Model 500.
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.