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 Portugal and from Manchester.
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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Marcia Griffiths. All the underground hits.
All Bronski Beat tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Fortunes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Trojans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Television,
8 Eyed Spy,
Little Man,
CMW,
Ken Boothe,
Boogie Down Productions,
the Sonics,
David Bowie,
the Association,
Kayak,
The Names,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Goldenarms,
Kenny Larkin,
Juan Atkins,
Janne Schatter,
Scratch Acid,
Harpers Bizarre,
Essential Logic,
Faraquet,
Soul II Soul,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Colin Newman,
T. Rex,
Freddie Wadling,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Doobie Brothers,
Jeff Lynne,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Saccharine Trust,
Cameo,
Hardrive,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Pet Shop Boys,
Tommy Roe,
Idris Muhammad,
K-Klass,
Gang Starr,
The Golliwogs,
Brass Construction,
Mo-Dettes,
Simply Red,
Y Pants,
The Doors,
Talk Talk,
Quando Quango,
The Blackbyrds,
Amon Düül,
Lakeside,
Rufus Thomas,
Make Up,
the Germs,
Delta 5,
Prince Buster,
Echospace,
X-Ray Spex,
Pylon,
Can,
Lou Reed,
Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48.
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.