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 Georgia and from Glasgow.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 The Durutti Column to the punk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 The Trojans. All the underground hits.
All Das Ding tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pierre Henry 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Make Up record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sparks,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Urselle,
Massinfluence,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Gang Green,
Jesper Dahlback,
Crash Course in Science,
Radiohead,
Minor Threat,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Barbara Tucker,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Circle Jerks,
Inner City,
Babytalk,
Stereo Dub,
Faust,
Don Cherry,
Drexciya,
Brand Nubian,
The Human League,
James White and The Blacks,
Donald Byrd,
The Standells,
Jandek,
Gang of Four,
Soft Cell,
Matthew Halsall,
Yusef Lateef,
Skarface,
The Dirtbombs,
Peter and Kerry,
Theoretical Girls,
Dead Boys,
Barrington Levy,
Duran Duran,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Schoolly D,
The Moody Blues,
Peter & Gordon,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Gladiators,
Yellowson,
Letta Mbulu,
Hasil Adkins,
Judy Mowatt,
Oblivians,
Joey Negro,
Cal Tjader,
Godley & Creme,
The Fortunes,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Severed Heads,
Boz Scaggs,
Maurizio,
Roy Ayers,
Alice Coltrane,
Scrapy,
John Holt,
Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis.
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.