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 Bolivia and from Woodstock.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise show in London.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 David Bowie 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 Rites of Spring to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Depeche Mode. All the underground hits.
All Ituana tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cal Tjader record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Art Ensemble Of Chicago record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alison Limerick,
The Detroit Cobras,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Trumans Water,
Fad Gadget,
Grauzone,
Tubeway Army,
The Motions,
The Dirtbombs,
Heaven 17,
Marcia Griffiths,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Q and Not U,
Depeche Mode,
Con Funk Shun,
Gerry Rafferty,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Average White Band,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Minnie Riperton,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Frankie Knuckles,
Flamin' Groovies,
Subhumans,
Spandau Ballet,
Bill Wells,
PIL,
Laurel Aitken,
Hasil Adkins,
Michelle Simonal,
Isaac Hayes,
Robert Hood,
The Alarm Clocks,
David Axelrod,
The Stooges,
Susan Cadogan,
Nirvana,
Icehouse,
Curtis Mayfield,
Soft Cell,
The Angels of Light,
Guru Guru,
Crispian St. Peters,
DJ Sneak,
The Monochrome Set,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Faraquet,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Pet Shop Boys,
Fatback Band,
Joyce Sims,
Lucky Dragons,
Lightning Bolt,
Grey Daturas,
Bootsy Collins,
Scott Walker,
Pantaleimon,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Throbbing Gristle,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Ludus, Ludus, Ludus, Ludus.
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.