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 Israel and from Edmonton.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 The Birthday Party to the funk 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 Marine Girls. All the underground hits.
All Eli Mardock tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Move record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 an arpeggiator and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Aaron Thompson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Fania All-Stars,
Kaleidoscope,
The Barracudas,
OOIOO,
Japan,
Neu!,
Malaria!,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Sonny Sharrock,
Big Daddy Kane,
Trumans Water,
Hasil Adkins,
Mad Mike,
Panda Bear,
The Mummies,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
LL Cool J,
Bootsy Collins,
Gang Starr,
Wolf Eyes,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Dennis Brown,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Minnie Riperton,
8 Eyed Spy,
Rakim,
Von Mondo,
Connie Case,
Altered Images,
Electric Prunes,
Nik Kershaw,
The Blackbyrds,
X-102,
the Slits,
Marmalade,
Pierre Henry,
Yazoo,
AZ,
Faraquet,
Country Teasers,
Basic Channel,
Heaven 17,
The Stooges,
Rites of Spring,
The Fall,
Piero Umiliani,
Mandrill,
FM Einheit,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Arthur Verocai,
Erykah Badu,
Chris & Cosey,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Television Personalities,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Pantaleimon,
Grauzone,
Sam Rivers,
a-ha,
Eli Mardock,
Fugazi,
Das Ding,
The Motions,
X-101,
Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell.
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.