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 Vanuatu and from Paris.
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 1963 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Terry Callier to the rock kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Rahsaan Roland Kirk. All the underground hits.
All Red Lorry Yellow Lorry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Oneida record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a H. Thieme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grey Daturas,
Moss Icon,
The Dead C,
Ralphi Rosario,
Lou Christie,
X-Ray Spex,
Pagans,
The Move,
the Human League,
Animal Collective,
Erasure,
Bluetip,
Lucky Dragons,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Zapp,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Stockholm Monsters,
Josef K,
Reuben Wilson,
Tom Boy,
Matthew Halsall,
The Walker Brothers,
Fugazi,
Half Japanese,
June of 44,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Toni Rubio,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Sparks,
The Blues Magoos,
Cecil Taylor,
Quando Quango,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Bill Wells,
Flamin' Groovies,
Theoretical Girls,
One Last Wish,
Letta Mbulu,
Mary Jane Girls,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Hashim,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Brass Construction,
Charles Mingus,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Jeru the Damaja,
Crooked Eye,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
A Certain Ratio,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Jeff Lynne,
Nils Olav,
Easy Going,
John Holt,
Absolute Body Control,
Brothers Johnson,
London Community Gospel Choir,
John Lydon,
The Raincoats,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Amazonics,
The Real Kids,
Dennis Brown, Dennis Brown, Dennis Brown, Dennis Brown.
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.