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 Papua New Guinea and from Accra.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the oboe 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 Slick Rick to the grunge 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 Crispian St. Peters. All the underground hits.
All Warren Ellis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Swell Maps 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Frankie Knuckles record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bronski Beat,
Jacques Brel,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Last Poets,
cv313,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
10cc,
Laurel Aitken,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Stetsasonic,
Minny Pops,
JFA,
Nils Olav,
Max Romeo,
KRS-One,
Terry Callier,
Lightning Bolt,
Pere Ubu,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Cameo,
Fugazi,
Chris & Cosey,
Arthur Verocai,
Easy Going,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Heaven 17,
Stereo Dub,
Sight & Sound,
Desert Stars,
The Music Machine,
Grey Daturas,
The Monochrome Set,
Girls At Our Best!,
Section 25,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Zeros,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
MC5,
Wings,
Sonic Youth,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Pagans,
ABC,
Buzzcocks,
Boredoms,
Drive Like Jehu,
Arcadia,
World's Most,
John Foxx,
Lalo Schifrin,
Excepter,
Black Flag,
The Buckinghams,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Can,
Reuben Wilson,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Black Pus,
Moby Grape,
Maurizio,
Tommy Roe,
Babytalk, Babytalk, Babytalk, Babytalk.
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.