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 Djibouti 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 1967 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Shanghai.
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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Donny Hathaway to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Ultra Naté. All the underground hits.
All Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Red Lorry Yellow Lorry record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Index record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mark Hollis,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Skriet,
Saccharine Trust,
Joy Division,
B.T. Express,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Dirtbombs,
D'Angelo,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Popol Vuh,
Adolescents,
Warren Ellis,
Country Teasers,
Tres Demented,
The Doors,
The Monochrome Set,
Television Personalities,
Ituana,
Monolake,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Goldenarms,
the Germs,
Magma,
This Heat,
The Zeros,
Suburban Knight,
Black Pus,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Gories,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Kool Moe Dee,
Eric B and Rakim,
Todd Terry,
Schoolly D,
Audionom,
Yazoo,
Delon & Dalcan,
Wire,
Sandy B,
Barry Ungar,
Japan,
The Doobie Brothers,
Main Source,
Pylon,
Letta Mbulu,
Masters at Work,
Ornette Coleman,
Sight & Sound,
Massinfluence,
Shuggie Otis,
Black Sheep,
James White and The Blacks,
Babytalk,
Skaos,
Pagans,
The Names,
Kurtis Blow,
The Fire Engines,
Ronnie Foster,
Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens, Silicon Teens.
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.