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 Bhutan and from Bremen.
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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Inner City to the rap kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Skriet. All the underground hits.
All James Chance & The Contortions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Toni Rubio 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum 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 Red Krayola,
The Toasters,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Adolescents,
The Raincoats,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Kas Product,
Lightning Bolt,
Chrome,
Ohio Players,
The Star Department,
Barclay James Harvest,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Camberwell Now,
The Busters,
Amazonics,
The Alarm Clocks,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Q and Not U,
Fugazi,
Derrick May,
Make Up,
The Slits,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Godley & Creme,
Lucky Dragons,
Fela Kuti,
Andrew Hill,
The Fortunes,
Absolute Body Control,
the Germs,
The Martian,
Marshall Jefferson,
Talk Talk,
Harmonia,
AZ,
The J.B.'s,
Henry Cow,
Kevin Saunderson,
Traffic Nightmare,
Alice Coltrane,
Kenny Larkin,
Marcia Griffiths,
Mr. Review,
The Neon Judgement,
Bill Wells,
Scott Walker,
Eve St. Jones,
Sexual Harrassment,
UT,
The Knickerbockers,
Livin' Joy,
Pulsallama,
Ludus,
Model 500,
Black Flag,
Funkadelic,
Spoonie Gee,
Fad Gadget,
Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood.
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.