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 China and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Sparks to the punk 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 Fela Kuti. All the underground hits.
All The Knickerbockers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Aural Exciters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 a chamberlin and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Teenage Jesus and the Jerks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Ice-T,
La Düsseldorf,
Duran Duran,
ABC,
Rosa Yemen,
Nils Olav,
Glenn Branca,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Yusef Lateef,
Amon Düül II,
Shoche,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Avey Tare,
Donny Hathaway,
8 Eyed Spy,
A Certain Ratio,
Arab on Radar,
Negative Approach,
Clear Light,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Qualms,
Brothers Johnson,
Kas Product,
Animal Collective,
X-102,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Todd Rundgren,
Ituana,
Royal Trux,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Alison Limerick,
The Cure,
T. Rex,
David McCallum,
Lalann,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Thompson Twins,
New York Dolls,
48th St. Collective,
The Fire Engines,
Hardrive,
Panda Bear,
Mars,
Quando Quango,
Anthony Braxton,
Icehouse,
Desert Stars,
Swans,
Fela Kuti,
The Kinks,
Los Fastidios,
Susan Cadogan,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Cheater Slicks,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Morten Harket,
Rekid,
Arthur Verocai,
a-ha,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Robert Wyatt,
Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage.
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.