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 Barbados and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 ABBA to the dance 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 Dirtbombs. All the underground hits.
All Sonny Sharrock tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Blancmange record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Foxx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fuzztones,
Hasil Adkins,
Procol Harum,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
The Gladiators,
Echospace,
Hardrive,
Das Ding,
The Blackbyrds,
The Raincoats,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Kerri Chandler,
Simply Red,
Scott Walker,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Hot Snakes,
the Soft Cell,
Blake Baxter,
Bootsy Collins,
Ohio Players,
Pylon,
Technova,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Curtis Mayfield,
E-Dancer,
The Shadows of Knight,
Eden Ahbez,
Michelle Simonal,
Rotary Connection,
New Age Steppers,
Gang of Four,
Tommy Roe,
Bob Dylan,
Ken Boothe,
Judy Mowatt,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Sisters of Mercy,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Flesh Eaters,
Circle Jerks,
Harmonia,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Terrestrial Tones,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Barbara Tucker,
Panda Bear,
Tom Boy,
Minutemen,
Cybotron,
Buzzcocks,
Parry Music,
Cal Tjader,
Fugazi,
Mission of Burma,
Guru Guru, Guru Guru, Guru Guru, Guru Guru.
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.