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 Ghana and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Mr. Review to the grime kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Gichy Dan. All the underground hits.
All Roy Ayers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mary Jane Girls 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Erykah Badu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Cowsills,
Boredoms,
Jeff Lynne,
The Blackbyrds,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Gong,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Patti Smith,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Mission of Burma,
Bobby Byrd,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Essential Logic,
Stetsasonic,
The Move,
Bush Tetras,
Wire,
Royal Trux,
Henry Cow,
Pagans,
Duran Duran,
Peter & Gordon,
Excepter,
Fela Kuti,
The Dave Clark Five,
Neu!,
Ituana,
Lalann,
The Count Five,
Minor Threat,
Goldenarms,
The Shadows of Knight,
Kevin Saunderson,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
MC5,
Connie Case,
The Barracudas,
Avey Tare,
Deakin,
The Gladiators,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Real Kids,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Kas Product,
Cluster,
The Skatalites,
Howard Jones,
Cameo,
Bizarre Inc.,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Chris Corsano,
Harmonia,
Thompson Twins,
Parry Music,
The Stooges,
Circle Jerks,
Jawbox,
Ten City,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Remains,
The Offenders, The Offenders, The Offenders, The Offenders.
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.