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 Samoa and from Copenhagen.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Gil Scott Heron 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 Archie Shepp. All the underground hits.
All The Standells tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Godley & Creme 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a La Düsseldorf record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Chrome,
The Litter,
Bluetip,
Toni Rubio,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Slits,
Supertramp,
Scott Walker,
Fort Wilson Riot,
KRS-One,
Harmonia,
Colin Newman,
Lalo Schifrin,
DJ Sneak,
Oneida,
In Retrospect,
The Mojo Men,
10cc,
Crime,
Archie Shepp,
Bronski Beat,
the Normal,
The Dirtbombs,
Matthew Bourne,
The Neon Judgement,
Darondo,
DNA,
The Wake,
Masters at Work,
Blancmange,
Ronan,
Sun Ra,
The Count Five,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Ken Boothe,
The Smiths,
The Modern Lovers,
Patti Smith,
Liliput,
Gil Scott Heron,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Eric Dolphy,
The Human League,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Dave Clark Five,
Cheater Slicks,
Charles Mingus,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Heaven 17,
Sällskapet,
La Düsseldorf,
Procol Harum,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Black Sheep,
Aloha Tigers,
Spoonie Gee,
Hasil Adkins,
Brass Construction,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Fall,
Big Daddy Kane,
Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant, Quadrant.
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.