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 Tonga and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Tommy Roe to the rap kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Aaron Thompson. All the underground hits.
All Royal Trux tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The J.B.'s record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 rhodes and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Television Personalities record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Junior Murvin,
Boz Scaggs,
Bob Dylan,
Au Pairs,
Al Stewart,
Pere Ubu,
Metal Thangz,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Warren Ellis,
Toni Rubio,
Peter & Gordon,
Robert Görl,
Nik Kershaw,
Hasil Adkins,
Ohio Players,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Gong,
Blossom Toes,
Colin Newman,
Max Romeo,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Gun Club,
Chris & Cosey,
Bush Tetras,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Neon Judgement,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
June of 44,
Fad Gadget,
Yusef Lateef,
Danielle Patucci,
Maleditus Sound,
Shoche,
The Kinks,
Roger Hodgson,
A Certain Ratio,
The Smoke,
Dawn Penn,
MC5,
Sparks,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Scan 7,
Parry Music,
Radiopuhelimet,
Jacob Miller,
Slick Rick,
Johnny Clarke,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Evens,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Donald Byrd,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Charles Mingus,
Warsaw,
The Grass Roots,
The Dirtbombs,
The Durutti Column,
Ronan,
Ornette Coleman,
Dead Boys,
Ludus,
Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett, Steve Hackett.
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.