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 Palau and from Seoul.
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 1960 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the guitar 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 Warren Ellis to the electroclash kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 The Residents. All the underground hits.
All Joey Negro tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Peter and Kerry record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dawn Penn record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Five Americans,
Donald Byrd,
the Bar-Kays,
Boogie Down Productions,
Idris Muhammad,
The Stooges,
Sarah Menescal,
Grey Daturas,
Drive Like Jehu,
Scrapy,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Animal Collective,
Steve Hackett,
Black Flag,
Agitation Free,
Slick Rick,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Fall,
Kayak,
Warren Ellis,
E-Dancer,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Glambeats Corp.,
Joensuu 1685,
The Monochrome Set,
Unrelated Segments,
Jeru the Damaja,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Reuben Wilson,
Underground Resistance,
Pierre Henry,
Spoonie Gee,
Organ,
Bizarre Inc.,
Jacques Brel,
The Pretty Things,
Nils Olav,
Peter & Gordon,
Blancmange,
Q65,
DJ Sneak,
Matthew Halsall,
Average White Band,
Basic Channel,
Sight & Sound,
Groovy Waters,
La Düsseldorf,
Scott Walker,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Johnny Clarke,
kango's stein massive,
Bobby Sherman,
The Gun Club,
Ohio Players,
Big Daddy Kane,
Chrome,
Das Ding,
Pantaleimon,
Sound Behaviour,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Monks, The Monks, The Monks, The Monks.
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.