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 Belize and from Johannesburg.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Ultravox to the grime kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Inner City. All the underground hits.
All Jacob Miller tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Brothers Johnson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 an oboe and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Zapp record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Spandau Ballet,
Howard Jones,
Flipper,
Lyres,
FM Einheit,
The Buckinghams,
Barry Ungar,
Duran Duran,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Davy DMX,
The Moleskins,
Radio Birdman,
Visage,
Das Ding,
Cecil Taylor,
The Associates,
The Invisible,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Names,
Alphaville,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Divine Comedy,
Sandy B,
Qualms,
The Monks,
X-Ray Spex,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Byron Stingily,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Rod Modell,
The Selecter,
The Doobie Brothers,
Dorothy Ashby,
Bobby Sherman,
Trumans Water,
Traffic Nightmare,
Quadrant,
Fad Gadget,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Minor Threat,
Make Up,
Unwound,
The Skatalites,
Magazine,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Glambeats Corp.,
Boogie Down Productions,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Sex Pistols,
Dave Gahan,
A Certain Ratio,
The Blues Magoos,
Pylon,
Scratch Acid,
Aural Exciters,
The Raincoats,
CMW,
Aaron Thompson,
Johnny Clarke,
Sound Behaviour,
Technova,
Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton.
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.