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 Ireland and from Madrid.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Bluetip to the rock 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 Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan. All the underground hits.
All Panda Bear tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brand Nubian record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Robert Hood,
Can,
Cal Tjader,
The Associates,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Vogues,
DJ Style,
Marcia Griffiths,
Todd Rundgren,
Maurizio,
Kurtis Blow,
Alice Coltrane,
Niagra,
E-Dancer,
Soul II Soul,
The Raincoats,
June of 44,
Newcleus,
Harmonia,
Porter Ricks,
the Slits,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Pussy Galore,
Gastr Del Sol,
Junior Murvin,
Nik Kershaw,
Gang Starr,
Subhumans,
The Martian,
Shuggie Otis,
Camouflage,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Selecter,
Grey Daturas,
Icehouse,
Visage,
The Toasters,
Television,
Lightning Bolt,
John Coltrane,
Fluxion,
Laurel Aitken,
Alton Ellis,
Thee Headcoats,
the Human League,
Young Marble Giants,
The Slits,
The Golliwogs,
The Fall,
B.T. Express,
Gregory Isaacs,
Eric Dolphy,
The Flesh Eaters,
Simply Red,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
UT,
The Smiths,
Blossom Toes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Archie Shepp,
Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus, Black Pus.
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.