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 Denmark and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise show in 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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 theremin 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 Bootsy's Rubber Band to the techno kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Modern Lovers. All the underground hits.
All Curtis Mayfield tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Arthur Verocai record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spoonie Gee record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Groovy Waters,
Rufus Thomas,
Drexciya,
L. Decosne,
Rakim,
Soft Cell,
Television Personalities,
Kerrie Biddell,
Ten City,
The Black Dice,
Theoretical Girls,
Ronnie Foster,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Detroit Cobras,
Lindisfarne,
R.M.O.,
Crispian St. Peters,
UT,
Byron Stingily,
cv313,
Darondo,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Pop Group,
Terrestrial Tones,
Malaria!,
Camouflage,
Bizarre Inc.,
Bill Near,
Metal Thangz,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Leonard Cohen,
Nils Olav,
Pulsallama,
Sister Nancy,
Stetsasonic,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The Names,
Sun City Girls,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Brick,
Traffic Nightmare,
Tim Buckley,
F. McDonald,
Alice Coltrane,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Animal Collective,
Los Fastidios,
Thee Headcoats,
a-ha,
Deepchord,
Dorothy Ashby,
Brass Construction,
Blancmange,
Kurtis Blow,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Pantaleimon,
Moss Icon,
Sun Ra,
Heaven 17,
June Days,
Vainqueur,
The Techniques, The Techniques, The Techniques, The Techniques.
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.