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 Jordan and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 synthesizer 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 the Human League to the jazz kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Rosa Yemen. All the underground hits.
All Pere Ubu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Popol Vuh 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Circle Jerks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Tremeloes,
Anthony Braxton,
Groovy Waters,
Qualms,
The Beau Brummels,
Eurythmics,
Eric B and Rakim,
R.M.O.,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Brand Nubian,
Tres Demented,
Dorothy Ashby,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Patti Smith,
The Leaves,
La Düsseldorf,
Alton Ellis,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Happenings,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Das Ding,
Unrelated Segments,
Sugar Minott,
Ultra Naté,
Aswad,
Hashim,
Aural Exciters,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Pop Group,
Adolescents,
Lou Reed,
Byron Stingily,
Spandau Ballet,
Sam Rivers,
Kurtis Blow,
Depeche Mode,
The American Breed,
Howard Jones,
Idris Muhammad,
Unwound,
Shuggie Otis,
The Sonics,
Icehouse,
Saccharine Trust,
Minny Pops,
The Five Americans,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Angels of Light,
The Fuzztones,
The Monochrome Set,
Public Image Ltd.,
Johnny Osbourne,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Basic Channel,
Sonic Youth,
John Coltrane,
Audionom,
New Order,
The Human League,
Trumans Water,
China Crisis,
Excepter, Excepter, Excepter, Excepter.
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.