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 St Lucia and from Shanghai.
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 Tehran and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the marimba 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 Soulsonic Force to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 The Invisible. All the underground hits.
All Erykah Badu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Groovy Waters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 chamberlin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jawbox record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Man Eating Sloth,
Arthur Verocai,
Gong,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Rakim,
Eric B and Rakim,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Frankie Knuckles,
Kevin Saunderson,
Max Romeo,
Flamin' Groovies,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Pet Shop Boys,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Essential Logic,
Connie Case,
Matthew Halsall,
Wings,
Los Fastidios,
Aaron Thompson,
The Litter,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Mandrill,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Eddi Front,
The Fire Engines,
Wolf Eyes,
Howard Jones,
The Offenders,
Gregory Isaacs,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
China Crisis,
Black Bananas,
Sugar Minott,
Amazonics,
The Velvet Underground,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Young Marble Giants,
Saccharine Trust,
The Misunderstood,
Barrington Levy,
The Shadows of Knight,
Porter Ricks,
Country Teasers,
Gang Starr,
Supertramp,
Shoche,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Toasters,
Godley & Creme,
Babytalk,
Peter & Gordon,
Laurel Aitken,
The New Christs,
Derrick Morgan,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Neu!,
Blancmange,
Duran Duran,
The Divine Comedy,
Kas Product, Kas Product, Kas Product, Kas Product.
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.