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 Bahamas and from Manchester.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Yaz to the crunk 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 Ultimate Spinach. All the underground hits.
All The Durutti Column tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mary Jane Girls record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Walker Brothers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Soul II Soul,
Public Enemy,
Lalo Schifrin,
Johnny Osbourne,
U.S. Maple,
Alison Limerick,
The Angels of Light,
The Trojans,
Albert Ayler,
Black Pus,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Spandau Ballet,
DJ Style,
Robert Wyatt,
The Litter,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Little Man,
Bush Tetras,
The Seeds,
Lucky Dragons,
Leonard Cohen,
Cluster,
The Busters,
Fear,
Franke,
Ralphi Rosario,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Kinks,
Make Up,
Tears for Fears,
Moss Icon,
Roxy Music,
Pylon,
Harmonia,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Modern Lovers,
Wasted Youth,
Johnny Clarke,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Sun Ra,
Yaz,
Arthur Verocai,
PIL,
Half Japanese,
Radio Birdman,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Magma,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Human League,
Bobby Byrd,
Tim Buckley,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Banda Bassotti,
The Count Five,
R.M.O.,
The Gun Club,
The Doors,
The Slackers,
The Flesh Eaters,
Joey Negro,
Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode, Depeche Mode.
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.