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 Togo 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 1965 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 linndrum 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 Ash Ra Tempel to the dance kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Pet Shop Boys. All the underground hits.
All Todd Rundgren tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Q65 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ralphi Rosario record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Q and Not U,
F. McDonald,
Henry Cow,
Joe Finger,
Stereo Dub,
Panda Bear,
Erykah Badu,
Wasted Youth,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Moody Blues,
Tears for Fears,
Jacob Miller,
The Offenders,
Josef K,
Wolf Eyes,
Patti Smith,
Groovy Waters,
World's Most,
T.S.O.L.,
Whodini,
Rakim,
Kayak,
The Red Krayola,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Bang On A Can,
The United States of America,
10cc,
Marmalade,
The Blackbyrds,
Eric Copeland,
Nas,
Mars,
Pet Shop Boys,
Joey Negro,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Fatback Band,
Sight & Sound,
The Selecter,
Accadde A,
Lou Christie,
Hashim,
Arab on Radar,
Harmonia,
Jacques Brel,
Pylon,
Aswad,
Quadrant,
Quantec,
The Monks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Kerri Chandler,
The Count Five,
ABC,
Jimmy McGriff,
K-Klass,
Public Enemy,
B.T. Express,
Black Sheep,
The Evens,
Yusef Lateef,
Terrestrial Tones, Terrestrial Tones, Terrestrial Tones, Terrestrial Tones.
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.