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 Brunei and from Sao Paulo.
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 1968 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 linndrum 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 Colin Newman to the funk 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 Tomorrow. All the underground hits.
All John Foxx tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Babytalk 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric Copeland,
The Red Krayola,
Icehouse,
The Trojans,
Dennis Brown,
Wolf Eyes,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Alarm Clocks,
Ossler,
Cecil Taylor,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Circle Jerks,
Angry Samoans,
Morten Harket,
Peter and Kerry,
Glambeats Corp.,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
48th St. Collective,
Dorothy Ashby,
Young Marble Giants,
Absolute Body Control,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Slits,
The Birthday Party,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Pere Ubu,
Ultimate Spinach,
Accadde A,
The Saints,
Gabor Szabo,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Joy Division,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Modern Lovers,
Soulsonic Force,
DJ Style,
Newcleus,
Fear,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Monks,
Scientists,
Model 500,
Kerri Chandler,
Piero Umiliani,
The Gladiators,
Moss Icon,
Lakeside,
Camberwell Now,
Stockholm Monsters,
Maurizio,
Barbara Tucker,
The Barracudas,
Bizarre Inc.,
Bush Tetras,
The Smoke,
Ken Boothe,
Delta 5,
Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry.
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.