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 Bhutan 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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the organ 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 Theoretical Girls to the dance 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 Idris Muhammad. All the underground hits.
All Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Harpers Bizarre record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Suburban Knight record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Khruangbin,
Judy Mowatt,
Traffic Nightmare,
Davy DMX,
Scientists,
Radiohead,
New Age Steppers,
Reagan Youth,
Lakeside,
Albert Ayler,
Circle Jerks,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Gories,
Andrew Hill,
Ronnie Foster,
Hasil Adkins,
Intrusion,
Peter & Gordon,
Suicide,
Eric B and Rakim,
Todd Rundgren,
The Human League,
Alton Ellis,
Pylon,
CMW,
Pere Ubu,
The Slits,
Infiniti,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Glenn Branca,
Barry Ungar,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Laurel Aitken,
Sexual Harrassment,
Ten City,
The Red Krayola,
Marcia Griffiths,
Erasure,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Marvin Gaye,
Wings,
Kurtis Blow,
Make Up,
Prince Buster,
Kaleidoscope,
The Searchers,
Lyres,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
The Barracudas,
John Foxx,
E-Dancer,
The Martian,
Neu!,
Cal Tjader,
Q65,
The Gladiators,
Jacques Brel,
Unwound,
H. Thieme, H. Thieme, H. Thieme, H. Thieme.
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.