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 New Zealand and from Beijing.
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 1964 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Sao Paulo.
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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the güiro 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 Flash Fearless to the techno kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band. All the underground hits.
All The Fuzztones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lyres 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Talk Talk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Harmonia,
Yellowson,
the Germs,
Gastr Del Sol,
Davy DMX,
ABBA,
Main Source,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Joe Finger,
The Cure,
The Red Krayola,
Ohio Players,
ABC,
The Vogues,
Wasted Youth,
Jimmy McGriff,
Basic Channel,
Ronnie Foster,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Los Fastidios,
Interpol,
Graham Central Station,
Reuben Wilson,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Iggy Pop,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Qualms,
Kerri Chandler,
Andrew Hill,
Colin Newman,
Pagans,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Velvet Underground,
Index,
The Buckinghams,
Television Personalities,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Bad Manners,
Alphaville,
The Fire Engines,
AZ,
K-Klass,
Blake Baxter,
a-ha,
This Heat,
Groovy Waters,
Curtis Mayfield,
Sexual Harrassment,
Fela Kuti,
The Residents,
Jandek,
The Stooges,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
UT,
Mantronix,
Pet Shop Boys,
Banda Bassotti,
Ultra Naté,
Man Eating Sloth,
Tropical Tobacco,
Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops.
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.