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 Vietnam and from Bremen.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the theremin 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 Tubeway Army to the rock 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. All the underground hits.
All Television Personalities tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Japan 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 mellotron and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Agent Orange record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Crash Course in Science,
Henry Cow,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Star Department,
Barrington Levy,
Stockholm Monsters,
Brothers Johnson,
The Names,
Don Cherry,
Little Man,
Monks,
The Detroit Cobras,
Kool Moe Dee,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Stooges,
Sunsets and Hearts,
One Last Wish,
The Pretty Things,
Arcadia,
Pagans,
Tommy Roe,
the Association,
Kurtis Blow,
Barry Ungar,
The Red Krayola,
Ronan,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Malaria!,
Lalann,
Johnny Osbourne,
Quadrant,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Sparks,
The Associates,
A Certain Ratio,
Can,
Warren Ellis,
Kayak,
Jerry's Kids,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Tim Buckley,
Eric Copeland,
the Bar-Kays,
Country Teasers,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Pere Ubu,
The Victims,
The Raincoats,
OOIOO,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Monolake,
The Electric Prunes,
Johnny Clarke,
Guru Guru,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
a-ha,
The Mighty Diamonds,
In Retrospect, In Retrospect, In Retrospect, In Retrospect.
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.