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 Sudan and from Manila.
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 1969 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and London.
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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu to the grunge 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 The Kinks. All the underground hits.
All ABC tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Depeche Mode 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Angels of Light & Akron/Family record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Anthony Braxton,
The Knickerbockers,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Minnie Riperton,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Supertramp,
8 Eyed Spy,
Porter Ricks,
Dual Sessions,
The Grass Roots,
The Blues Magoos,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Shuggie Otis,
JFA,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Real Kids,
Swell Maps,
Susan Cadogan,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Cowsills,
Alton Ellis,
Technova,
The Offenders,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Fall,
Lower 48,
Albert Ayler,
The Zeros,
Trumans Water,
The Happenings,
Idris Muhammad,
Anakelly,
Marshall Jefferson,
Au Pairs,
Sun Ra,
DJ Sneak,
Nico,
Young Marble Giants,
Bobby Sherman,
Monks,
Skarface,
Toni Rubio,
Gerry Rafferty,
Fear,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Neon Judgement,
Danielle Patucci,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Don Cherry,
Cecil Taylor,
Josef K,
Peter and Kerry,
Mo-Dettes,
Soft Machine,
Bob Dylan,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Crooked Eye,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Robert Wyatt,
Mary Jane Girls, Mary Jane Girls, Mary Jane Girls, Mary Jane Girls.
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.