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 Trinidad & Tobago and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 Madrid and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 Donald Fagen 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 Minnie Riperton to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Pet Shop Boys. All the underground hits.
All Pylon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang On A Can record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Notorious Big And Bone Thugs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Kinks,
Eric Dolphy,
Max Romeo,
Joensuu 1685,
Girls At Our Best!,
Vainqueur,
Letta Mbulu,
David McCallum,
Altered Images,
Yusef Lateef,
Iggy Pop,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Modern Lovers,
Ituana,
Sonny Sharrock,
Audionom,
Peter and Kerry,
Panda Bear,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Scion,
John Holt,
Camberwell Now,
Main Source,
Zapp,
Circle Jerks,
Wire,
Cal Tjader,
Nils Olav,
Minutemen,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Al Stewart,
T.S.O.L.,
Gastr Del Sol,
the Bar-Kays,
AZ,
Hashim,
The Angels of Light,
Hardrive,
Massinfluence,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
LL Cool J,
Porter Ricks,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Joy Division,
Minny Pops,
Camouflage,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Susan Cadogan,
Pharoah Sanders,
Gabor Szabo,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Ludus,
Grauzone,
Alton Ellis,
the Fania All-Stars,
Flash Fearless, Flash Fearless, Flash Fearless, Flash Fearless.
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.