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 San Marino and from Delhi.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Mantronix to the dance kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Black Pus. All the underground hits.
All Blancmange tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Liaisons Dangereuses 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bronski Beat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lyres,
Little Man,
Average White Band,
Von Mondo,
CMW,
Colin Newman,
L. Decosne,
Bronski Beat,
The Selecter,
The Cure,
Tears for Fears,
Fela Kuti,
Johnny Clarke,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Music Machine,
Todd Terry,
The Barracudas,
Ohio Players,
Das Ding,
June Days,
Heaven 17,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Donny Hathaway,
Reuben Wilson,
The Fortunes,
La Düsseldorf,
Gang Gang Dance,
Grandmaster Flash,
Shoche,
Ponytail,
Soul II Soul,
Bauhaus,
Mantronix,
Yaz,
Sandy B,
the Germs,
Schoolly D,
Wally Richardson,
Urselle,
The Techniques,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Electric Prunes,
Smog,
Pantytec,
The Divine Comedy,
Hardrive,
Basic Channel,
Donald Byrd,
Amazonics,
Hasil Adkins,
Animal Collective,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Crash Course in Science,
Ludus,
Soul Sonic Force,
Cameo,
Magma,
Moebius,
Mary Jane Girls,
Althea and Donna,
Pylon, Pylon, Pylon, Pylon.
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.