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 Ecuador and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 snare 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 The Standells to the funk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 De La Soul & Jungle Brothers. All the underground hits.
All The Trojans 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 funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a the Slits record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Michelle Simonal,
The Martian,
Outsiders,
Kevin Saunderson,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Excepter,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
David McCallum,
Massinfluence,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Echospace,
Ponytail,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
the Germs,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Marvin Gaye,
48th St. Collective,
X-Ray Spex,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Letta Mbulu,
The Dead C,
Camberwell Now,
Erykah Badu,
Saccharine Trust,
Joe Smooth,
Bill Near,
Hashim,
Lungfish,
Prince Buster,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Frankie Knuckles,
Blossom Toes,
Donald Byrd,
Sällskapet,
Malaria!,
Roxette,
Infiniti,
Byron Stingily,
The Gap Band,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Eve St. Jones,
Derrick Morgan,
Rhythm & Sound,
Boredoms,
Desert Stars,
Judy Mowatt,
Joy Division,
Warsaw,
Pylon,
Masters at Work,
China Crisis,
Talk Talk,
John Foxx,
Basic Channel,
Bronski Beat,
Sister Nancy,
David Bowie,
David Axelrod,
The Human League,
Funkadelic, Funkadelic, Funkadelic, Funkadelic.
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.