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 Macedonia and from London.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1968 at the first Can practice in a loft in Cologne.
I was working on the sitar 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 Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam to the rap 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 Sarah Menescal. All the underground hits.
All Traffic Nightmare tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Aaron Thompson 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Wells record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Joy Division,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Siglo XX,
Tommy Roe,
Das Ding,
Swans,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Motorama,
The Moody Blues,
Chrome,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Japan,
Hardrive,
DNA,
Roy Ayers,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Prince Buster,
Banda Bassotti,
One Last Wish,
Gong,
The Selecter,
DJ Style,
The Pop Group,
Brick,
Con Funk Shun,
La Düsseldorf,
Rod Modell,
Los Fastidios,
Dave Gahan,
Gregory Isaacs,
Connie Case,
Zero Boys,
Buzzcocks,
Alice Coltrane,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Roxy Music,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Monolake,
The Monochrome Set,
Bobby Womack,
The Black Dice,
Crash Course in Science,
The Fire Engines,
Marine Girls,
the Human League,
The Names,
Rites of Spring,
The Happenings,
Mission of Burma,
Fear,
Blancmange,
Vainqueur,
E-Dancer,
Bluetip,
Soulsonic Force,
Lebanon Hanover,
Man Parrish,
Unwound,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near.
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.