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 Libya and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 Nile Rodgers 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 Inner City to the jazz kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Manfred Mann's Earth Band. All the underground hits.
All Mission of Burma tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eddi Front record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 snare and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Doobie Brothers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Piero Umiliani,
Graham Central Station,
X-Ray Spex,
Rosa Yemen,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Babytalk,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Ralphi Rosario,
Jeru the Damaja,
Eve St. Jones,
Quantec,
Sister Nancy,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Crooked Eye,
Jandek,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Talk Talk,
Matthew Bourne,
kango's stein massive,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The United States of America,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
KRS-One,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Minny Pops,
Johnny Osbourne,
Sun City Girls,
The Selecter,
Pierre Henry,
Skriet,
Peter and Kerry,
Marmalade,
Spandau Ballet,
Amon Düül,
Roy Ayers,
Malaria!,
Newcleus,
Pole,
Judy Mowatt,
The Electric Prunes,
Wally Richardson,
Gabor Szabo,
Ultravox,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Moss Icon,
The Black Dice,
Mo-Dettes,
Organ,
Dorothy Ashby,
Khruangbin,
Letta Mbulu,
Metal Thangz,
Cameo,
Motorama,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Pretty Things,
Michelle Simonal,
Black Moon,
Derrick May,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
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.