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 Madagascar and from Tehran.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Major Organ And The Adding Machine to the grime 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 Brand Nubian. All the underground hits.
All Kerri Chandler tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rites of Spring record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 theremin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Saccharine Trust record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
T. Rex,
Radiohead,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Infiniti,
Johnny Osbourne,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Spoonie Gee,
48th St. Collective,
Eric B and Rakim,
Gong,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Trojans,
John Foxx,
Pulsallama,
Jeff Mills,
Simply Red,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
June of 44,
Zapp,
Ice-T,
Bill Near,
Mary Jane Girls,
Mark Hollis,
the Slits,
Average White Band,
Faust,
Kerrie Biddell,
Outsiders,
Rufus Thomas,
Dawn Penn,
La Düsseldorf,
Dennis Brown,
Jacques Brel,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Hashim,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
the Swans,
Fatback Band,
Anakelly,
Moby Grape,
Girls At Our Best!,
Nirvana,
Crispian St. Peters,
Crash Course in Science,
Freddie Wadling,
Peter & Gordon,
Depeche Mode,
The Blues Magoos,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Vainqueur,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Desert Stars,
Marc Almond,
Mission of Burma,
The Gories,
The Offenders,
FM Einheit,
The Moody Blues,
Minutemen,
David McCallum,
Newcleus, Newcleus, Newcleus, Newcleus.
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.