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 Iraq and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Spandau Ballet 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 Curtis Mayfield. All the underground hits.
All Sister Nancy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alphaville record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 marimba and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang On A Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Quadrant,
Smog,
Gregory Isaacs,
Anthony Braxton,
Isaac Hayes,
Fad Gadget,
Pantytec,
The Golliwogs,
Judy Mowatt,
Scan 7,
Amon Düül II,
Jacques Brel,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Masters at Work,
D'Angelo,
Negative Approach,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Warren Ellis,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Saints,
Mary Jane Girls,
Neil Young,
Josef K,
Matthew Bourne,
Mo-Dettes,
EPMD,
Yazoo,
The Sonics,
Eric Dolphy,
Dual Sessions,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Todd Terry,
One Last Wish,
Bauhaus,
Soft Machine,
Colin Newman,
Blancmange,
Reuben Wilson,
Zero Boys,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
L. Decosne,
ABBA,
Jesper Dahlback,
Little Man,
Scientists,
the Bar-Kays,
Rosa Yemen,
Dark Day,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Jeff Mills,
Thompson Twins,
Minor Threat,
Nico,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Hoover,
Thee Headcoats,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Index,
Jawbox,
Lou Christie,
Eric B and Rakim,
Kevin Saunderson,
Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented, Tres Demented.
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.