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 Kyrgyzstan and from Bremen.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Underground Resistance to the rap 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 Hot Snakes. All the underground hits.
All Mark Hollis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Josef K record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jimmy McGriff record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bang On A Can,
UT,
DJ Sneak,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Yusef Lateef,
Malaria!,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Jacob Miller,
Joensuu 1685,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Johnny Clarke,
Reagan Youth,
Jerry's Kids,
Pharoah Sanders,
Aural Exciters,
Bob Dylan,
Niagra,
Alton Ellis,
Minnie Riperton,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Letta Mbulu,
Gil Scott Heron,
Index,
Gerry Rafferty,
Khruangbin,
Adolescents,
Nirvana,
Maleditus Sound,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Depeche Mode,
The Tremeloes,
Pet Shop Boys,
Mr. Review,
Leonard Cohen,
Kayak,
Skriet,
Tommy Roe,
Skaos,
A Certain Ratio,
The Misunderstood,
Warren Ellis,
Junior Murvin,
Buzzcocks,
Liliput,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Evens,
Pussy Galore,
Television,
Henry Cow,
Black Bananas,
Sixth Finger,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Faust,
Massinfluence,
Johnny Osbourne,
Rod Modell,
La Düsseldorf,
Peter and Kerry,
Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire.
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.