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 Samoa and from Hong Kong.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Ultramagnetic MC's to the techno kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Brand Nubian. All the underground hits.
All Fugazi tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tubeway Army record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Albert Ayler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
R.M.O.,
Monks,
Johnny Clarke,
Brand Nubian,
Danielle Patucci,
The Index,
Bush Tetras,
Pierre Henry,
The Moleskins,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Blues Magoos,
Slave,
Gabor Szabo,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Groovy Waters,
Nas,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Radiopuhelimet,
June of 44,
Mission of Burma,
New Order,
Accadde A,
Moby Grape,
Saccharine Trust,
The Happenings,
Babytalk,
ABBA,
The Seeds,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
AZ,
The Shadows of Knight,
K-Klass,
Animal Collective,
John Holt,
Lakeside,
LL Cool J,
Godley & Creme,
Curtis Mayfield,
Swell Maps,
June Days,
Blake Baxter,
Lebanon Hanover,
Mark Hollis,
OOIOO,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Trumans Water,
Mo-Dettes,
Tres Demented,
Patti Smith,
Matthew Bourne,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Kevin Saunderson,
the Human League,
The Music Machine,
The Walker Brothers,
Theoretical Girls,
Colin Newman,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Alphaville,
Barclay James Harvest,
CMW,
Kayak, Kayak, Kayak, Kayak.
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.