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 Nigeria and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1961 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 organ 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 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band to the techno 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 Parry Music. All the underground hits.
All Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Grandmaster Flash record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lakeside record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Cale,
Bush Tetras,
Sly & The Family Stone,
John Lydon,
Joensuu 1685,
Josef K,
Harpers Bizarre,
Cameo,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Cheater Slicks,
Infiniti,
Piero Umiliani,
New Order,
Bill Wells,
Tres Demented,
Neu!,
Japan,
Tom Boy,
Skaos,
Kevin Saunderson,
kango's stein massive,
Newcleus,
Moby Grape,
Talk Talk,
The Fall,
Desert Stars,
Mandrill,
Lungfish,
Vladislav Delay,
Sarah Menescal,
Todd Rundgren,
Dave Gahan,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Lou Christie,
Loose Ends,
Soul II Soul,
the Soft Cell,
Angry Samoans,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
James White and The Blacks,
Boredoms,
T.S.O.L.,
The Slits,
Goldenarms,
The Pretty Things,
The Raincoats,
cv313,
Marshall Jefferson,
Minny Pops,
Joe Smooth,
These Immortal Souls,
La Düsseldorf,
Radiopuhelimet,
Sällskapet,
Soul Sonic Force,
Howard Jones,
Public Enemy,
Scientists,
Matthew Bourne,
Q65,
Patti Smith,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye.
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.