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 Solomon Islands and from Portland.
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 1969 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the sitar 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 Joe Smooth 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 The Beau Brummels. All the underground hits.
All Barrington Levy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Fortunes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Absolute Body Control,
Peter & Gordon,
Sugar Minott,
Supertramp,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Kas Product,
Mad Mike,
Monolake,
The Motions,
Blake Baxter,
Frankie Knuckles,
Babytalk,
The Victims,
Johnny Osbourne,
Gang of Four,
Ituana,
The Remains,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
a-ha,
Oneida,
Technova,
World's Most,
Young Marble Giants,
Average White Band,
Cameo,
Chris & Cosey,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Index,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Pantaleimon,
Bobby Byrd,
Toni Rubio,
Dorothy Ashby,
Dual Sessions,
Flipper,
Amon Düül II,
Wire,
Pharoah Sanders,
Agent Orange,
Minnie Riperton,
Derrick May,
MC5,
The Star Department,
David Bowie,
Sällskapet,
Maurizio,
Lightning Bolt,
Brass Construction,
Sun Ra,
Cybotron,
The Move,
Patti Smith,
John Cale,
Heaven 17,
Cymande,
Second Layer,
the Normal,
Ohio Players,
Mr. Review,
Simply Red,
Wolf Eyes,
Sam Rivers,
Spoonie Gee,
Procol Harum, Procol Harum, Procol Harum, Procol Harum.
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.