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 Papua New Guinea and from Accra.
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 1968 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Eric Copeland to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Letta Mbulu. All the underground hits.
All Soul Sonic Force tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Q and Not U record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soul II Soul record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Durutti Column,
Camberwell Now,
Angry Samoans,
Youth Brigade,
Kurtis Blow,
Talk Talk,
Don Cherry,
The Trojans,
8 Eyed Spy,
Frankie Knuckles,
X-101,
The Selecter,
Babytalk,
Bauhaus,
FM Einheit,
Oneida,
The Cowsills,
The New Christs,
Rekid,
Sparks,
The Toasters,
Black Pus,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Intrusion,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Soft Cell,
The Real Kids,
Joey Negro,
David McCallum,
The Music Machine,
John Coltrane,
New Order,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Gregory Isaacs,
Sugar Minott,
The Stooges,
The Mojo Men,
Kayak,
Average White Band,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Guru Guru,
Gichy Dan,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Moleskins,
Piero Umiliani,
Scion,
Lou Reed,
Reagan Youth,
Boredoms,
Nirvana,
The Velvet Underground,
Trumans Water,
Rhythm & Sound,
Panda Bear,
Country Teasers,
June Days,
The Pretty Things,
Parry Music,
Lebanon Hanover,
Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins, Hasil Adkins.
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.