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 Tanzania and from Accra.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 oboe 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 Average White Band to the rap kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 F. McDonald. All the underground hits.
All The New Christs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jacob Miller record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ken Boothe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Cosmic Jokers,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Marine Girls,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Kerrie Biddell,
Mo-Dettes,
Bill Wells,
Danielle Patucci,
Jesper Dahlback,
Lyres,
Iggy Pop,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Ituana,
Kaleidoscope,
Ultimate Spinach,
Sun City Girls,
Peter and Kerry,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Human League,
Bizarre Inc.,
Outsiders,
Aswad,
Chris & Cosey,
John Holt,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Aaron Thompson,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Roxette,
Grauzone,
Black Flag,
Drexciya,
Wings,
Deadbeat,
One Last Wish,
Niagra,
Todd Terry,
Kerri Chandler,
The Smoke,
Derrick Morgan,
Japan,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Skatalites,
Lucky Dragons,
Das Ding,
Scott Walker,
Loose Ends,
Letta Mbulu,
James White and The Blacks,
Yellowson,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Skaos,
This Heat,
The Modern Lovers,
Don Cherry,
Funkadelic,
Sun Ra,
Soul Sonic Force,
Tres Demented,
Theoretical Girls,
Eric Copeland,
Malaria!, Malaria!, Malaria!, Malaria!.
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.