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 Ukraine and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Yellowson to the grime 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 Peter & Gordon. All the underground hits.
All Amon Düül tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bootsy's Rubber Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Associates record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Big Daddy Kane,
Groovy Waters,
The Electric Prunes,
John Holt,
The New Christs,
Funky Four + One,
Dorothy Ashby,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Misunderstood,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Idris Muhammad,
La Düsseldorf,
Brothers Johnson,
Mark Hollis,
Radiopuhelimet,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Second Layer,
The Monochrome Set,
Chrome,
Crash Course in Science,
Visage,
Aaron Thompson,
T.S.O.L.,
Whodini,
Tom Boy,
New Age Steppers,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Heaven 17,
Barbara Tucker,
Crooked Eye,
Amon Düül,
UT,
Eric Copeland,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Gang of Four,
Livin' Joy,
Absolute Body Control,
Stiv Bators,
Babytalk,
Camberwell Now,
Rekid,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Count Five,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Dennis Brown,
B.T. Express,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Alison Limerick,
Blossom Toes,
Main Source,
Wire,
Marshall Jefferson,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Fire Engines,
The Offenders,
Deadbeat,
Cameo,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Nico,
Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D.
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.