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 United Kingdom and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in 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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Isaac Hayes to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All Sparks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Unrelated Segments record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronnie Foster 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?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Slave,
Mantronix,
The Moody Blues,
The Litter,
Qualms,
Crooked Eye,
Ultra Naté,
The Gap Band,
Agent Orange,
Drive Like Jehu,
Inner City,
Arab on Radar,
Sandy B,
Severed Heads,
Interpol,
Babytalk,
Hardrive,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Icehouse,
Howard Jones,
Tom Boy,
The Trojans,
Alton Ellis,
Magma,
The Motions,
Minnie Riperton,
The Detroit Cobras,
Underground Resistance,
Kool Moe Dee,
Cal Tjader,
Maurizio,
Fear,
The Moleskins,
Kerrie Biddell,
Joe Smooth,
Royal Trux,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Black Dice,
Soul II Soul,
Joey Negro,
Soulsonic Force,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Grauzone,
The Human League,
8 Eyed Spy,
Lyres,
Lungfish,
Smog,
The New Christs,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Offenders,
Flipper,
Rites of Spring,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Techniques,
Erasure,
Gabor Szabo,
Rapeman,
Sällskapet,
Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy, Harry Pussy.
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.