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 Poland and from Glasgow.
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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to the funk 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 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Moon record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Teenage Jesus and the Jerks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Wolf Eyes,
The Detroit Cobras,
Tom Boy,
Graham Central Station,
Janne Schatter,
Flash Fearless,
Danielle Patucci,
R.M.O.,
The Star Department,
the Bar-Kays,
Judy Mowatt,
The Angels of Light,
Sun City Girls,
Joe Smooth,
The Selecter,
Public Enemy,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
New York Dolls,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Fatback Band,
Toni Rubio,
Girls At Our Best!,
Piero Umiliani,
ABC,
Rekid,
Altered Images,
Ituana,
Kayak,
The Gun Club,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Can,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Gories,
the Swans,
The Index,
Joey Negro,
Nik Kershaw,
Roxy Music,
The Names,
Peter and Kerry,
Deadbeat,
Slick Rick,
The Fugs,
Robert Wyatt,
Marcia Griffiths,
Jacob Miller,
Youth Brigade,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Zero Boys,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Dead C,
Maurizio,
Porter Ricks,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Lou Christie,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Goldenarms,
Jacques Brel,
Joy Division, Joy Division, Joy Division, Joy Division.
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.