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 Serbia and from Toronto.
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 1962 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Echospace to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Thompson Twins. All the underground hits.
All Spandau Ballet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joensuu 1685 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 mellotron and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eden Ahbez record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Barry Ungar,
Pere Ubu,
Black Flag,
Au Pairs,
Dave Gahan,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Nation of Ulysses,
Dorothy Ashby,
Amon Düül,
Max Romeo,
Robert Hood,
Little Man,
Minny Pops,
Rhythm & Sound,
Freddie Wadling,
Peter & Gordon,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Aswad,
Q and Not U,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Pantytec,
Fela Kuti,
Cameo,
Bill Near,
Agitation Free,
Grauzone,
Pussy Galore,
Ken Boothe,
Scion,
The United States of America,
Masters at Work,
Adolescents,
Surgeon,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Wire,
Henry Cow,
Infiniti,
The Smiths,
New Order,
Sexual Harrassment,
Crispy Ambulance,
Scratch Acid,
Television Personalities,
Gregory Isaacs,
Brothers Johnson,
Lou Reed,
Mantronix,
Magazine,
Frankie Knuckles,
KRS-One,
Sun Ra,
Crime,
U.S. Maple,
Dennis Brown,
Chris Corsano,
Skarface,
Khruangbin,
Reuben Wilson,
Smog,
Neil Young,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ash Ra Tempel, Ash Ra Tempel, Ash Ra Tempel, Ash Ra Tempel.
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.