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 Korea South and from Philadelphia.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Johannesburg.
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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Lou Christie to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Beasts of Bourbon. All the underground hits.
All Bobby Byrd tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slits 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Residents record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sixth Finger,
Cluster,
T. Rex,
Von Mondo,
Black Pus,
Fad Gadget,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Moby Grape,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Lou Christie,
Idris Muhammad,
Steve Hackett,
Talk Talk,
Hot Snakes,
the Human League,
David Bowie,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Drexciya,
Groovy Waters,
Derrick May,
Massinfluence,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Dawn Penn,
Terrestrial Tones,
Todd Terry,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
The Selecter,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Black Bananas,
Radiohead,
Jesper Dahlback,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Bang On A Can,
Depeche Mode,
Man Eating Sloth,
Soul II Soul,
Ronan,
Animal Collective,
LL Cool J,
Lalann,
Jacob Miller,
Young Marble Giants,
Chris Corsano,
Robert Görl,
The Martian,
Iggy Pop,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Sex Pistols,
The Leaves,
Crispian St. Peters,
Agitation Free,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Eli Mardock,
Electric Prunes,
Joensuu 1685,
The J.B.'s,
Little Man,
Rotary Connection,
Gong, Gong, Gong, Gong.
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.