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 Sierra Leone and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1962 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Madrid.
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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 John Holt to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Barrington Levy. All the underground hits.
All Lakeside tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every James Chance & The Contortions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Derrick Morgan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Circle Jerks,
Nas,
The Toasters,
Pet Shop Boys,
Quadrant,
Rhythm & Sound,
Steve Hackett,
Donny Hathaway,
Soul Sonic Force,
Henry Cow,
The Music Machine,
Rites of Spring,
Tubeway Army,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Nirvana,
Vladislav Delay,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Babytalk,
Second Layer,
X-101,
Smog,
Spoonie Gee,
Don Cherry,
Peter & Gordon,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Public Enemy,
Depeche Mode,
Michelle Simonal,
The Gap Band,
Avey Tare,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Techniques,
the Normal,
Lucky Dragons,
the Fania All-Stars,
Symarip,
Sixth Finger,
Dawn Penn,
the Swans,
Joensuu 1685,
Magma,
Kaleidoscope,
Marcia Griffiths,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Zeros,
Stetsasonic,
Godley & Creme,
Boredoms,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Supertramp,
Lyres,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The New Christs,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Aloha Tigers,
Hashim,
Talk Talk,
Erasure,
Thee Headcoats,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Gong,
Alphaville,
Brick, Brick, Brick, Brick.
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.