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 Philippines and from Spokane.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Black Flag to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Prince Buster. All the underground hits.
All Gang of Four tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Spoonie Gee record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lizzy Mercier Descloux record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
The Trojans,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Grass Roots,
Ultimate Spinach,
Angry Samoans,
Suicide,
The Index,
Sixth Finger,
Zero Boys,
D'Angelo,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Eurythmics,
The American Breed,
Neu!,
DJ Style,
Howard Jones,
Kas Product,
Brass Construction,
Procol Harum,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Altered Images,
Schoolly D,
Swans,
Skaos,
Yaz,
Television,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Neon Judgement,
Kerri Chandler,
T. Rex,
Soft Machine,
Whodini,
a-ha,
Mars,
The Blackbyrds,
Marvin Gaye,
Minutemen,
Ken Boothe,
Man Parrish,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Hasil Adkins,
Godley & Creme,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Mantronix,
8 Eyed Spy,
Terry Callier,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Mummies,
Tim Buckley,
The Vogues,
Wolf Eyes,
Trumans Water,
The Fire Engines,
Kerrie Biddell,
Letta Mbulu,
Q65,
X-Ray Spex,
Susan Cadogan,
Bill Near,
June Days,
Marine Girls,
Harpers Bizarre,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson.
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.