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 Guinea and from Manila.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Eurythmics to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 John Lydon. All the underground hits.
All Agent Orange tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ronnie Foster record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marine Girls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Young Marble Giants,
Cymande,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Moby Grape,
Stereo Dub,
Joe Smooth,
Barbara Tucker,
Pet Shop Boys,
Ponytail,
Main Source,
Qualms,
Mandrill,
James White and The Blacks,
Accadde A,
Marshall Jefferson,
Ultra Naté,
Delta 5,
Lee Hazlewood,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Andrew Hill,
ABC,
The Fall,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Dead C,
Soulsonic Force,
Johnny Clarke,
Cybotron,
Tim Buckley,
Fugazi,
The Toasters,
Ultravox,
Quando Quango,
Marcia Griffiths,
Dennis Brown,
Y Pants,
Amon Düül II,
Unwound,
Yazoo,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Bauhaus,
Icehouse,
The Searchers,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Rites of Spring,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Aural Exciters,
La Düsseldorf,
The Techniques,
Radiohead,
Rekid,
Brick,
Nik Kershaw,
Sandy B,
Kayak,
T.S.O.L.,
Rufus Thomas,
The Gladiators,
Hot Snakes,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Raincoats,
Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover.
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.