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 Zambia and from Tokyo.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Henry Cow to the punk 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 Nick Fraelich. All the underground hits.
All Sparks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Wyatt 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Wally Richardson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Barracudas,
Cheater Slicks,
Fela Kuti,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Hasil Adkins,
Metal Thangz,
Gastr Del Sol,
Junior Murvin,
Scion,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Delon & Dalcan,
Young Marble Giants,
Tears for Fears,
Marmalade,
Buzzcocks,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Move,
Shoche,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
A Certain Ratio,
Fugazi,
The Mummies,
E-Dancer,
Model 500,
Hardrive,
Ultravox,
Soul II Soul,
Wasted Youth,
Bush Tetras,
Skriet,
Sight & Sound,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
X-Ray Spex,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Moleskins,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Todd Rundgren,
The Young Rascals,
The Zeros,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
OOIOO,
Yazoo,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Peter & Gordon,
Skaos,
Joe Finger,
Malaria!,
The Dave Clark Five,
Jimmy McGriff,
Barbara Tucker,
Derrick Morgan,
Archie Shepp,
Gang Green,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Graham Central Station,
The Cure,
Anakelly,
U.S. Maple,
The Raincoats,
The American Breed,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.