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 Mauritius and from Shanghai.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 organ 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 Banda Bassotti to the crunk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Music Machine. All the underground hits.
All Patti Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rotary Connection 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Simply Red record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Supertramp,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Faust,
Juan Atkins,
Derrick Morgan,
Charles Mingus,
Wally Richardson,
Eric B and Rakim,
Tomorrow,
Harry Pussy,
The Wake,
The Remains,
Derrick May,
T.S.O.L.,
Trumans Water,
Pierre Henry,
The Moody Blues,
Ronnie Foster,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Skatalites,
Glambeats Corp.,
Slave,
Lou Reed,
Dual Sessions,
Bauhaus,
kango's stein massive,
Pere Ubu,
Traffic Nightmare,
Nils Olav,
The Grass Roots,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Jandek,
Sonny Sharrock,
Talk Talk,
Soulsonic Force,
Brothers Johnson,
Thee Headcoats,
Bluetip,
Soft Cell,
Eden Ahbez,
Sex Pistols,
Babytalk,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Smoke,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Tommy Roe,
Laurel Aitken,
Quantec,
Agitation Free,
Judy Mowatt,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Wolf Eyes,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Smog,
Mad Mike,
CMW,
Gang Green,
Jeff Lynne,
These Immortal Souls,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne, Johnny Osbourne.
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.