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 Namibia and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Chocolate Watch Band to the funk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Lakeside. All the underground hits.
All Terry Callier tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Dirtbombs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
H. Thieme,
Procol Harum,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Wake,
a-ha,
Kerrie Biddell,
Lalann,
June Days,
Byron Stingily,
Goldenarms,
Joensuu 1685,
The Misunderstood,
Gang of Four,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Y Pants,
Skaos,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Joe Smooth,
Prince Buster,
Flipper,
Groovy Waters,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Urselle,
Kevin Saunderson,
Intrusion,
Blossom Toes,
Ponytail,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Swell Maps,
Magazine,
The Dirtbombs,
The Doors,
Colin Newman,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Index,
Essential Logic,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Con Funk Shun,
Roger Hodgson,
Half Japanese,
Cheater Slicks,
Camberwell Now,
Soft Cell,
Vladislav Delay,
Kool Moe Dee,
Darondo,
Joy Division,
The Birthday Party,
L. Decosne,
The Kinks,
LL Cool J,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Quando Quango,
The Sonics,
Anakelly,
Tom Boy,
Alison Limerick,
Laurel Aitken,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Robert Görl,
Marshall Jefferson,
the Association, the Association, the Association, the Association.
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.