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 Papua New Guinea and from Lille.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 Michael McDonald 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 Arcadia to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Pussy Galore. All the underground hits.
All The Misunderstood tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oblivians record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kurtis Blow record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Invisible,
L. Decosne,
Marvin Gaye,
Second Layer,
Stereo Dub,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Ice-T,
Steve Hackett,
Fugazi,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Spandau Ballet,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Angels of Light,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Drexciya,
Ohio Players,
8 Eyed Spy,
Lower 48,
Make Up,
Bootsy Collins,
The Toasters,
Nils Olav,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Maleditus Sound,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Archie Shepp,
Hardrive,
Niagra,
Lightning Bolt,
La Düsseldorf,
Chris Corsano,
Darondo,
Terrestrial Tones,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Crash Course in Science,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Barclay James Harvest,
Brand Nubian,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Nik Kershaw,
Jawbox,
Black Flag,
The Names,
Eurythmics,
Tom Boy,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Nico,
Graham Central Station,
Blossom Toes,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
New Order,
The Five Americans,
F. McDonald,
Albert Ayler,
The Detroit Cobras,
Kerrie Biddell,
Piero Umiliani,
Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now.
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.