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 Botswana and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South London.
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 1967 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 New York Dolls to the electroclash 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 Bauhaus. All the underground hits.
All Kerri Chandler tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sparks 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Shuggie Otis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Sisters of Mercy,
Hashim,
Kas Product,
The Red Krayola,
Chris & Cosey,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Youth Brigade,
the Sonics,
Duran Duran,
Section 25,
Q65,
Whodini,
Panda Bear,
Royal Trux,
Jeru the Damaja,
Little Man,
Nico,
Simply Red,
Dennis Brown,
Rod Modell,
Masters at Work,
Cecil Taylor,
Scan 7,
Fluxion,
the Germs,
Gabor Szabo,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Fortunes,
Tres Demented,
Dawn Penn,
Desert Stars,
Camberwell Now,
Ossler,
Albert Ayler,
Alison Limerick,
Brass Construction,
K-Klass,
Zapp,
Saccharine Trust,
Wolf Eyes,
Gang of Four,
The Flesh Eaters,
Faust,
Althea and Donna,
Unrelated Segments,
Marcia Griffiths,
Tom Boy,
Sex Pistols,
Lakeside,
Girls At Our Best!,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Sonics,
The Shadows of Knight,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
June Days,
Moebius,
Iggy Pop,
Andrew Hill,
Banda Bassotti,
Marshall Jefferson,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Derrick May,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
The Standells, The Standells, The Standells, The Standells.
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.