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 Costa Rica and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Bremen.
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 theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Reed & John Cale to the electroclash 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 Hashim. All the underground hits.
All the Germs tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Minny Pops record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ultramagnetic MC's record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Offenders,
Max Romeo,
Cluster,
Marcia Griffiths,
Urselle,
Peter & Gordon,
Ludus,
Dorothy Ashby,
Motorama,
Laurel Aitken,
Pagans,
The Red Krayola,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Star Department,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Absolute Body Control,
Girls At Our Best!,
John Coltrane,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Sonny Sharrock,
Cheater Slicks,
Warren Ellis,
OOIOO,
Joe Finger,
World's Most,
Half Japanese,
Susan Cadogan,
Grandmaster Flash,
FM Einheit,
Aural Exciters,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Bobby Womack,
Ice-T,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Amon Düül II,
La Düsseldorf,
Albert Ayler,
Bob Dylan,
The Music Machine,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Flash Fearless,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Depeche Mode,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Pussy Galore,
Godley & Creme,
Barclay James Harvest,
Clear Light,
Khruangbin,
Letta Mbulu,
Roger Hodgson,
The Zeros,
Country Teasers,
Unwound,
Icehouse,
Panda Bear,
Howard Jones,
Chris & Cosey,
The Monochrome Set,
Sex Pistols,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Quando Quango, Quando Quango, Quando Quango, Quando Quango.
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.