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 Cyprus and from Manchester.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mexico City 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Qualms to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Index. All the underground hits.
All Sun City Girls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Electric Prunes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Circle Jerks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masters at Work,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Drexciya,
Zapp,
Alice Coltrane,
ABBA,
Audionom,
Zero Boys,
Outsiders,
Silicon Teens,
Lindisfarne,
Archie Shepp,
Harpers Bizarre,
Yellowson,
The Stooges,
June of 44,
Eric Dolphy,
Lower 48,
Maurizio,
Jacques Brel,
Wire,
Television Personalities,
the Swans,
Bauhaus,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Ossler,
Moebius,
Camberwell Now,
Ultra Naté,
The Smiths,
Sonny Sharrock,
Lucky Dragons,
The Leaves,
Joey Negro,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Bad Manners,
Simply Red,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Beau Brummels,
Mars,
Blake Baxter,
Quando Quango,
Dead Boys,
Adolescents,
Piero Umiliani,
The Litter,
Graham Central Station,
Gabor Szabo,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Sugar Minott,
The Divine Comedy,
This Heat,
June Days,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Pussy Galore,
Mark Hollis,
Aural Exciters,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Ronan,
The Doobie Brothers,
Gang Green, Gang Green, Gang Green, Gang Green.
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.