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 Belize and from Johannesburg.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Stockholm Monsters to the dance 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 Morten Harket. All the underground hits.
All Gang Starr tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marvin Gaye 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ultramagnetic MC's record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Unwound,
Patti Smith,
Aswad,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Thompson Twins,
Sly & The Family Stone,
the Slits,
Pussy Galore,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
the Fania All-Stars,
Brand Nubian,
Joe Smooth,
Marine Girls,
Throbbing Gristle,
Bobby Byrd,
Alison Limerick,
Godley & Creme,
Moebius,
Amazonics,
Rapeman,
Peter and Kerry,
Peter & Gordon,
Absolute Body Control,
Adolescents,
Derrick Morgan,
The Names,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Sound Behaviour,
Grauzone,
Eurythmics,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Radio Birdman,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Deepchord,
Fela Kuti,
Kaleidoscope,
Swell Maps,
Pere Ubu,
Lyres,
Whodini,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Moleskins,
The Gap Band,
Bizarre Inc.,
Bang On A Can,
Deakin,
the Soft Cell,
Barrington Levy,
Moss Icon,
Television Personalities,
Rod Modell,
Lungfish,
Kurtis Blow,
Mars,
Cymande,
Young Marble Giants,
Todd Terry,
The Real Kids,
kango's stein massive,
Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop, Iggy Pop.
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.