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 Sri Lanka and from Columbus.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Brand Nubian 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 Black Moon. All the underground hits.
All Warsaw tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jeff Mills record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Zero Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sun Ra,
Nils Olav,
Moss Icon,
the Germs,
Ludus,
Hot Snakes,
Porter Ricks,
Danielle Patucci,
Black Pus,
Roxette,
K-Klass,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Hoover,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Flipper,
The Evens,
Wasted Youth,
Jacques Brel,
David Axelrod,
DJ Style,
Icehouse,
B.T. Express,
The Red Krayola,
Slick Rick,
OOIOO,
The Gap Band,
The Five Americans,
Circle Jerks,
China Crisis,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Trumans Water,
The Gun Club,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Andrew Hill,
Barclay James Harvest,
Pole,
Tommy Roe,
Rhythm & Sound,
the Normal,
Anthony Braxton,
Skaos,
Terry Callier,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
The Invisible,
Janne Schatter,
The Victims,
Josef K,
Henry Cow,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
New Age Steppers,
Average White Band,
Drive Like Jehu,
Rufus Thomas,
Procol Harum,
Colin Newman,
Connie Case,
Tim Buckley,
Tom Boy,
Excepter,
The Sound,
Delta 5,
Neu!,
Ultra Naté,
The Vogues, The Vogues, The Vogues, The Vogues.
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.