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 Kuwait and from Stockholm.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Barrington Levy 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 Barrington Levy. All the underground hits.
All Nas tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kenny Larkin record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ken Boothe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Moleskins,
New Age Steppers,
Maurizio,
Unrelated Segments,
Symarip,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Lou Christie,
Scion,
Pet Shop Boys,
Faust,
Todd Terry,
The Searchers,
Sun Ra,
Juan Atkins,
Rod Modell,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Matthew Bourne,
The Mummies,
Gang of Four,
Public Enemy,
Moby Grape,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Peter & Gordon,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Skriet,
Donald Byrd,
Cameo,
The Motions,
Ornette Coleman,
The Zeros,
Boogie Down Productions,
Arcadia,
Anakelly,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Average White Band,
The Sonics,
Mark Hollis,
Con Funk Shun,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
X-102,
Bobby Womack,
Anthony Braxton,
The Cowsills,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Quando Quango,
Jimmy McGriff,
Sun City Girls,
The Real Kids,
Sugar Minott,
Soul Sonic Force,
Lyres,
Country Teasers,
The Angels of Light,
Judy Mowatt,
Thee Headcoats,
Aswad,
H. Thieme,
Arthur Verocai,
Alice Coltrane,
Toni Rubio,
Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland, Eric Copeland.
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.