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 Congo and from Seoul.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Mantronix to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Television Personalities. All the underground hits.
All Be Bop Deluxe tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every T.S.O.L. record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cramps record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Joy Division,
Black Flag,
Aaron Thompson,
The Happenings,
Lalann,
Pantaleimon,
Rufus Thomas,
Liliput,
Q65,
Todd Rundgren,
Eric Dolphy,
Mark Hollis,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Names,
Mary Jane Girls,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Guru Guru,
The Fall,
Magazine,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Anakelly,
This Heat,
Eden Ahbez,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Monks,
Theoretical Girls,
Bob Dylan,
Buzzcocks,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Man Eating Sloth,
Danielle Patucci,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Nation of Ulysses,
Lower 48,
The Residents,
James White and The Blacks,
Jeff Lynne,
Pierre Henry,
The Move,
Drive Like Jehu,
Ohio Players,
OOIOO,
Steve Hackett,
Hasil Adkins,
R.M.O.,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Star Department,
Clear Light,
Marc Almond,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Albert Ayler,
Tubeway Army,
Grauzone,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Lyres,
Cecil Taylor,
Public Image Ltd.,
Peter & Gordon,
Fatback Band,
Jacob Miller,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.