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 Burundi and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Kool G Rap & DJ Polo to the funk 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 Liaisons Dangereuses. All the underground hits.
All Q and Not U tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Animal Collective 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a CMW record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Joe Finger,
Thee Headcoats,
Scratch Acid,
Soul II Soul,
The Vogues,
The Techniques,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Kerri Chandler,
Animal Collective,
T.S.O.L.,
Dave Gahan,
Niagra,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Goldenarms,
Arcadia,
Aaron Thompson,
Morten Harket,
FM Einheit,
Tom Boy,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Traffic Nightmare,
Newcleus,
John Lydon,
Fifty Foot Hose,
The Move,
Grandmaster Flash,
10cc,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Aswad,
The Sound,
MC5,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Wolf Eyes,
Leonard Cohen,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
B.T. Express,
Blake Baxter,
Eric Dolphy,
Model 500,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Rosa Yemen,
Gang Gang Dance,
Terrestrial Tones,
Crash Course in Science,
Michelle Simonal,
Harry Pussy,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Swans,
Robert Wyatt,
Tommy Roe,
Rhythm & Sound,
Kurtis Blow,
Circle Jerks,
Marine Girls,
The Walker Brothers,
Donald Byrd,
Talk Talk,
Avey Tare,
Isaac Hayes,
Kerrie Biddell,
Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy Collins.
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.