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 Congo and from Accra.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 theremin 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 Strawberry Alarm Clock 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 Alton Ellis. All the underground hits.
All Henry Cow tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ash Ra Tempel record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Techniques record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Juan Atkins,
Ten City,
K-Klass,
Prince Buster,
The Pretty Things,
Skaos,
The Cure,
X-102,
JFA,
Dawn Penn,
Scrapy,
Scratch Acid,
Steve Hackett,
Tim Buckley,
Essential Logic,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Suburban Knight,
Howard Jones,
Kurtis Blow,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Count Five,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Gladiators,
Simply Red,
Matthew Bourne,
Public Image Ltd.,
Minnie Riperton,
Pole,
Mantronix,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Music Machine,
David Bowie,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Saints,
Roy Ayers,
Brand Nubian,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Subhumans,
Franke,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Gun Club,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Quadrant,
New Order,
Camberwell Now,
Agent Orange,
The Litter,
The Monks,
Grauzone,
AZ,
The Stooges,
Man Parrish,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Gang of Four,
Swans,
Flipper, Flipper, Flipper, Flipper.
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.