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 Guinea-Bissau 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 1965 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 harpsichord 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 Delon & Dalcan to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Robert Hood. All the underground hits.
All Qualms tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tim Buckley 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Pop Group record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Porter Ricks,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Darondo,
Carl Craig,
Procol Harum,
Faust,
Steve Hackett,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Bob Dylan,
Archie Shepp,
Pussy Galore,
Gichy Dan,
Accadde A,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Q and Not U,
Rod Modell,
Boogie Down Productions,
Popol Vuh,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Gang Starr,
One Last Wish,
Max Romeo,
Lou Christie,
Moby Grape,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Arab on Radar,
Brass Construction,
Crooked Eye,
The Star Department,
Pet Shop Boys,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Henry Cow,
Second Layer,
Terry Callier,
Cybotron,
Minnie Riperton,
Bluetip,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Derrick May,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Gang Green,
Circle Jerks,
Sun City Girls,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Mark Hollis,
Silicon Teens,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Lindisfarne,
Youth Brigade,
Zapp,
Ash Ra Tempel,
H. Thieme,
The Searchers,
Sällskapet,
Slick Rick,
Joey Negro,
Quadrant,
Neil Young,
The Grass Roots,
The Fugs,
Minutemen, Minutemen, Minutemen, Minutemen.
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.