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 Yemen and from Portland.
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 1962 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Spokane and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 CMW to the grime 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 8 Eyed Spy. All the underground hits.
All The Cosmic Jokers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amazonics record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joy Division record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cal Tjader,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Harmonia,
Angry Samoans,
Nik Kershaw,
The Associates,
Delta 5,
Matthew Halsall,
Lucky Dragons,
Joy Division,
Michelle Simonal,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Shoche,
Graham Central Station,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Flesh Eaters,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Roxy Music,
Cecil Taylor,
Wire,
Visage,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Fluxion,
Desert Stars,
The Gladiators,
Sound Behaviour,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Hot Snakes,
Cameo,
Jeff Lynne,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Toni Rubio,
Yaz,
The J.B.'s,
Fugazi,
Zapp,
Slick Rick,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Hashim,
CMW,
MC5,
Reuben Wilson,
Ituana,
Quando Quango,
Echospace,
Joe Smooth,
Rod Modell,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Newcleus,
Nico,
The Human League,
The Trojans,
Joey Negro,
Peter & Gordon,
The Evens,
The Red Krayola,
A Certain Ratio,
Godley & Creme,
Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band.
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.