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 Columbus.
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 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 oboe 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 New Age Steppers to the techno 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 Black Sheep. All the underground hits.
All Nas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fad Gadget 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mad Mike record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Johnny Clarke,
The Doors,
Terrestrial Tones,
Agent Orange,
Barrington Levy,
Radiopuhelimet,
Urselle,
H. Thieme,
The Monks,
Ponytail,
Spandau Ballet,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Minutemen,
Grey Daturas,
Roger Hodgson,
Deepchord,
Cecil Taylor,
a-ha,
Oneida,
Wally Richardson,
The Gap Band,
Harry Pussy,
The Litter,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Stetsasonic,
Television Personalities,
DJ Sneak,
Prince Buster,
Loose Ends,
The Wake,
The Raincoats,
FM Einheit,
Ten City,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Flesh Eaters,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Althea and Donna,
Scrapy,
The Kinks,
Alphaville,
Tim Buckley,
Faraquet,
Monolake,
Lebanon Hanover,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Young Rascals,
Laurel Aitken,
Howard Jones,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Brass Construction,
Piero Umiliani,
Suicide,
The Gladiators,
Joyce Sims,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Pole,
Black Pus,
Jawbox,
Ultravox,
Henry Cow, Henry Cow, Henry Cow, Henry Cow.
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.