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 Ukraine and from Delhi.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 The Busters to the rap kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Rekid. All the underground hits.
All Minutemen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Aloha Tigers 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fat Boys record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fall,
Davy DMX,
Throbbing Gristle,
Agent Orange,
ABBA,
Royal Trux,
Lower 48,
Grey Daturas,
The Electric Prunes,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Curtis Mayfield,
Talk Talk,
Swell Maps,
The Mummies,
Amazonics,
Desert Stars,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Chris & Cosey,
Marvin Gaye,
John Cale,
Avey Tare,
Cluster,
The Cowsills,
Archie Shepp,
The Human League,
Soul Sonic Force,
Public Enemy,
Glenn Branca,
The Pretty Things,
Bill Wells,
Colin Newman,
10cc,
Sixth Finger,
Brick,
Yellowson,
The Toasters,
PIL,
Pierre Henry,
David McCallum,
Jawbox,
Saccharine Trust,
Newcleus,
Ituana,
Stiv Bators,
Kerri Chandler,
The Cramps,
The Slackers,
Soul II Soul,
Malaria!,
Lungfish,
The Misunderstood,
Terry Callier,
Ten City,
Big Daddy Kane,
Sun City Girls,
The Sonics,
Vladislav Delay,
Matthew Halsall,
a-ha,
Todd Terry,
Public Image Ltd.,
Neil Young,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Can, Can, Can, Can.
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.