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 Uzbekistan and from Madrid.
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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the 808 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 It's A Beautiful Day to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Public Image Ltd.. All the underground hits.
All Sällskapet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Donald Byrd 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a A Flock of Seagulls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pere Ubu,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lou Reed,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Moebius,
New Order,
Aloha Tigers,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Jandek,
Silicon Teens,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Doobie Brothers,
Avey Tare,
June Days,
The Shadows of Knight,
Hardrive,
Tres Demented,
Adolescents,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Terry Callier,
Stiv Bators,
Jeff Mills,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Marine Girls,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Althea and Donna,
Model 500,
Pussy Galore,
Mark Hollis,
Man Parrish,
Pagans,
The Gap Band,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Mary Jane Girls,
Pulsallama,
Rosa Yemen,
Lakeside,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Boz Scaggs,
Rod Modell,
The Pop Group,
Lindisfarne,
John Coltrane,
Quando Quango,
Todd Terry,
Tommy Roe,
The United States of America,
Bush Tetras,
H. Thieme,
Mr. Review,
the Soft Cell,
The American Breed,
Jawbox,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Brick,
Infiniti,
The Selecter,
Crispy Ambulance,
Crispian St. Peters,
Darondo,
Soft Machine, Soft Machine, Soft Machine, Soft Machine.
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.