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 Sudan and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage 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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 spring reverb 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 The Neon Judgement to the grunge 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 Y Pants. All the underground hits.
All Half Japanese tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every CMW 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tropical Tobacco record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro 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 Osbourne,
Robert Görl,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Iggy Pop,
Ornette Coleman,
Black Pus,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Mojo Men,
Jawbox,
Wings,
Stetsasonic,
June Days,
Trumans Water,
Sixth Finger,
Bobby Sherman,
Thee Headcoats,
The Index,
The Golliwogs,
Subhumans,
Alison Limerick,
Bizarre Inc.,
Altered Images,
The Vogues,
Hardrive,
In Retrospect,
The Gories,
The Mummies,
The American Breed,
Sun Ra,
Unrelated Segments,
Maurizio,
Don Cherry,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Kinks,
Basic Channel,
Babytalk,
Nick Fraelich,
World's Most,
The Real Kids,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Youth Brigade,
Fugazi,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Joe Finger,
Byron Stingily,
The Walker Brothers,
Junior Murvin,
Slave,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Sister Nancy,
Morten Harket,
Metal Thangz,
Pole,
Q65,
The Litter,
Pierre Henry,
Dave Gahan,
La Düsseldorf,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock, Eli Mardock.
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.