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 Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 Robert Palmer 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 Andrew Hill 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 Joyce Sims. All the underground hits.
All Chris Corsano tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Outsiders record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Fire Engines record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pharoah Sanders,
Peter and Kerry,
Mad Mike,
Carl Craig,
the Human League,
Sight & Sound,
The Red Krayola,
The Cramps,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Sound,
Peter & Gordon,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Cymande,
Eve St. Jones,
Charles Mingus,
Depeche Mode,
Rakim,
The Dead C,
the Sonics,
L. Decosne,
Spoonie Gee,
Henry Cow,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Index,
Intrusion,
Kenny Larkin,
Ituana,
Pantytec,
Qualms,
Byron Stingily,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Bizarre Inc.,
the Bar-Kays,
Vainqueur,
Cheater Slicks,
Amazonics,
The Offenders,
Jeff Lynne,
Pierre Henry,
Audionom,
John Coltrane,
Reuben Wilson,
Dennis Brown,
Bluetip,
Barbara Tucker,
Ten City,
Harpers Bizarre,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Martian,
The Sisters of Mercy,
cv313,
Pole,
Scion,
E-Dancer,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Wire,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Donny Hathaway,
The Human League,
Thee Headcoats,
The Buckinghams,
The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s, The J.B.'s.
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.