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 St Lucia and from Johannesburg.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 1976 at the first Wire practice in a loft in Watford.
I was working on the theremin 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 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 One Last Wish. All the underground hits.
All Ronnie Foster tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amon Düül record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 a linndrum and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tropical Tobacco record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Blake Baxter,
Ossler,
Godley & Creme,
John Coltrane,
Subhumans,
Scott Walker,
Warsaw,
Adolescents,
Minnie Riperton,
Supertramp,
the Swans,
Infiniti,
Fat Boys,
Vainqueur,
John Holt,
Altered Images,
Grandmaster Flash,
Public Image Ltd.,
Whodini,
Michelle Simonal,
Toni Rubio,
Rhythm & Sound,
Accadde A,
the Sonics,
China Crisis,
The Angels of Light,
The Buckinghams,
Wolf Eyes,
Letta Mbulu,
Desert Stars,
Marine Girls,
The Neon Judgement,
The Sisters of Mercy,
These Immortal Souls,
Popol Vuh,
Cal Tjader,
Curtis Mayfield,
Donald Byrd,
The Invisible,
The Durutti Column,
The Gladiators,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Mary Jane Girls,
Circle Jerks,
Television Personalities,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Nick Fraelich,
Quadrant,
Ten City,
Minny Pops,
Livin' Joy,
The Tremeloes,
Das Ding,
Depeche Mode,
Black Pus,
Masters at Work,
Brand Nubian,
Negative Approach,
Animal Collective,
The Count Five,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry.
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.