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 Slovakia and from Winnipeg.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Hong Kong.
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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Bluetip to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Modern Lovers. All the underground hits.
All Talk Talk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Beau Brummels 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 808 and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pere Ubu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Jeff Mills,
Electric Light Orchestra,
the Normal,
Metal Thangz,
Theoretical Girls,
The Monochrome Set,
Rod Modell,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Lower 48,
Nils Olav,
Lee Hazlewood,
Amon Düül,
Amon Düül II,
The Kinks,
Alton Ellis,
L. Decosne,
Scientists,
Hasil Adkins,
June of 44,
Steve Hackett,
Masters at Work,
Graham Central Station,
Lakeside,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Maleditus Sound,
The Five Americans,
Blancmange,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Ken Boothe,
Danielle Patucci,
Junior Murvin,
Warren Ellis,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Zeros,
Babytalk,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Technova,
Camouflage,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Glambeats Corp.,
Cheater Slicks,
New York Dolls,
Man Eating Sloth,
ABC,
Gil Scott Heron,
Motorama,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
A Certain Ratio,
Carl Craig,
Simply Red,
Gang Gang Dance,
Con Funk Shun,
The Fugs,
D'Angelo,
The Slackers,
The Leaves,
Marshall Jefferson,
Bauhaus,
Fatback Band,
The Wake, The Wake, The Wake, The Wake.
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.