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 Finland and from Delhi.
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 1960 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the rhodes sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Adolescents. All the underground hits.
All Warren Ellis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Flesh Eaters 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Misunderstood record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Seeds,
Can,
Aaron Thompson,
Arab on Radar,
Sun Ra,
The Slits,
Stetsasonic,
The Smiths,
Audionom,
Lebanon Hanover,
Gang of Four,
The Names,
The Human League,
Howard Jones,
Tim Buckley,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Symarip,
Bobby Byrd,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Jimmy McGriff,
CMW,
Sparks,
The Angels of Light,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Youth Brigade,
Lower 48,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
D'Angelo,
E-Dancer,
New Order,
Siglo XX,
Terry Callier,
Darondo,
Monolake,
The Electric Prunes,
Sam Rivers,
The Residents,
Suicide,
Whodini,
Cecil Taylor,
Black Moon,
Alison Limerick,
Fela Kuti,
Slick Rick,
Sugar Minott,
ABBA,
Underground Resistance,
Organ,
T. Rex,
Barbara Tucker,
The Knickerbockers,
Ituana,
Agitation Free,
Country Teasers,
the Human League,
The Fire Engines,
The Cowsills,
Panda Bear,
The Doobie Brothers,
the Association,
Ronan,
Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson.
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.