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 Afghanistan and from Bremen.
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 1969 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Milan 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Sonics to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Subhumans. All the underground hits.
All Cabaret Voltaire tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Beau Brummels record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 a harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barry Ungar record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Graham Central Station,
The Shadows of Knight,
Brand Nubian,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Section 25,
Intrusion,
Faust,
The Monks,
World's Most,
Pere Ubu,
B.T. Express,
Adolescents,
Metal Thangz,
Public Enemy,
DJ Style,
Radiohead,
Cal Tjader,
The United States of America,
Jerry's Kids,
James White and The Blacks,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
the Germs,
The Angels of Light,
Michelle Simonal,
Scion,
Marvin Gaye,
Eve St. Jones,
Delon & Dalcan,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Bobby Womack,
Boredoms,
Talk Talk,
Cybotron,
Thompson Twins,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Dirtbombs,
China Crisis,
Black Flag,
Sister Nancy,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Joy Division,
Animal Collective,
Nik Kershaw,
Mo-Dettes,
Electric Prunes,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Pussy Galore,
Jacques Brel,
Sonny Sharrock,
The J.B.'s,
Crooked Eye,
Aural Exciters,
Curtis Mayfield,
Buzzcocks,
X-101,
The Toasters,
Ken Boothe,
Icehouse,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Dennis Brown,
Radio Birdman,
Blake Baxter,
Ornette Coleman,
Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly.
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.