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 Nepal and from Beijing.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Livin' Joy to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Drexciya. All the underground hits.
All The Fire Engines tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every This Heat record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 synthesizer and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Mighty Diamonds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sarah Menescal,
Black Pus,
Darondo,
Sam Rivers,
Television,
Royal Trux,
Livin' Joy,
Fad Gadget,
The Dead C,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Mr. Review,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Lightning Bolt,
Ralphi Rosario,
Eric Dolphy,
Hasil Adkins,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Marine Girls,
Roger Hodgson,
Dennis Brown,
Dawn Penn,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Velvet Underground,
Iggy Pop,
LL Cool J,
Terry Callier,
Derrick Morgan,
Nik Kershaw,
The Human League,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Seeds,
Severed Heads,
cv313,
ABC,
Ludus,
Fela Kuti,
The Cure,
John Foxx,
Q65,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Busters,
Pierre Henry,
The Mojo Men,
Gong,
Alison Limerick,
The United States of America,
Robert Wyatt,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Mo-Dettes,
Spoonie Gee,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
the Human League,
Bob Dylan,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Names,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Eddi Front,
Boogie Down Productions,
Das Ding,
Juan Atkins,
Basic Channel,
The Detroit Cobras,
Supertramp,
Amazonics,
Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims, Joyce Sims.
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.