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 Luxembourg 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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 theremin 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 Angry Samoans to the grime 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 Bang On A Can. All the underground hits.
All Echospace tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Alton Ellis 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Accadde A record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alphaville,
Goldenarms,
the Fania All-Stars,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Searchers,
Magma,
Tom Boy,
the Soft Cell,
The Sonics,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Sound,
Sonic Youth,
David Bowie,
The Wake,
The Gories,
Eve St. Jones,
Kaleidoscope,
The Five Americans,
Steve Hackett,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Infiniti,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Pere Ubu,
Connie Case,
The Durutti Column,
Isaac Hayes,
Unwound,
Das Ding,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
John Holt,
Minny Pops,
Maurizio,
Livin' Joy,
Joy Division,
The Dirtbombs,
Adolescents,
Delta 5,
The Last Poets,
The Busters,
The Litter,
Organ,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Black Sheep,
This Heat,
Bootsy Collins,
E-Dancer,
Swans,
Malaria!,
Mark Hollis,
The Selecter,
Aaron Thompson,
Tubeway Army,
Glambeats Corp.,
Bobby Byrd,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Human League,
Neil Young,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Y Pants,
Prince Buster,
Wally Richardson,
Ultravox,
Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson.
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.