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 Austria and from Shanghai.
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 1962 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Funky Four + One to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 The Gap Band. All the underground hits.
All Johnny Osbourne tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Zapp 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rhythm & Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Matthew Halsall,
Brass Construction,
The Neon Judgement,
Peter & Gordon,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Dead C,
Arab on Radar,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Jandek,
Harmonia,
Judy Mowatt,
The Mighty Diamonds,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
KRS-One,
Tubeway Army,
Minny Pops,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Surgeon,
Marmalade,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Kevin Saunderson,
Hardrive,
Goldenarms,
Interpol,
Althea and Donna,
The Toasters,
Curtis Mayfield,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Mission of Burma,
Dorothy Ashby,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Organ,
Danielle Patucci,
Camberwell Now,
The Leaves,
Severed Heads,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Talk Talk,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Human League,
Niagra,
Smog,
Camouflage,
Qualms,
The Zeros,
Motorama,
Joe Finger,
Moss Icon,
Nation of Ulysses,
Au Pairs,
Pulsallama,
Thee Headcoats,
Flash Fearless,
Scion,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Pagans,
Section 25,
Second Layer,
JFA,
Bobbi Humphrey, Bobbi Humphrey, Bobbi Humphrey, Bobbi Humphrey.
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.