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 Laos and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 harpsichord 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 Scratch Acid to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Urselle. All the underground hits.
All Gregory Isaacs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every K-Klass record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Flash Fearless record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Neil Young,
Pulsallama,
The Birthday Party,
Yaz,
Crispian St. Peters,
Nico,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Drexciya,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Fat Boys,
Zapp,
Quadrant,
MDC,
the Sonics,
Rekid,
Barry Ungar,
John Coltrane,
Minutemen,
Charles Mingus,
a-ha,
Dark Day,
Derrick May,
Camberwell Now,
The United States of America,
Yusef Lateef,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Delta 5,
Wire,
Chrome,
The Modern Lovers,
The Gladiators,
Stetsasonic,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Kevin Saunderson,
Hoover,
David Bowie,
Terrestrial Tones,
Ludus,
Dual Sessions,
The Standells,
Shuggie Otis,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Barracudas,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Gories,
The Seeds,
One Last Wish,
Joy Division,
Boogie Down Productions,
Gang Green,
The Slackers,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Jeff Mills,
Soul Sonic Force,
Eurythmics,
Icehouse,
Nas,
Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick.
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.