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 Egypt and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Lou Reed 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 Rufus Thomas to the rap 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 Godley & Creme. All the underground hits.
All Lower 48 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ken Boothe record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The United States of America record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Red Krayola,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Count Five,
Donny Hathaway,
Archie Shepp,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Soulsonic Force,
Mandrill,
Shuggie Otis,
Al Stewart,
Blossom Toes,
The Index,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
U.S. Maple,
Symarip,
Slave,
Drexciya,
Hot Snakes,
Eric B and Rakim,
Tres Demented,
Stiv Bators,
La Düsseldorf,
Nation of Ulysses,
James White and The Blacks,
FM Einheit,
The Knickerbockers,
Idris Muhammad,
Warsaw,
Oneida,
Little Man,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Eddi Front,
Erykah Badu,
The Modern Lovers,
Jawbox,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Ice-T,
kango's stein massive,
Black Moon,
The Birthday Party,
World's Most,
Faust,
Sparks,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Circle Jerks,
The Slits,
Alice Coltrane,
Dawn Penn,
H. Thieme,
Wire,
Tom Boy,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Skarface,
Fela Kuti,
The Searchers,
The Gladiators,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Robert Wyatt,
Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale, Lou Reed & John Cale.
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.