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 Belgium and from Madrid.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1977 at the first Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the theremin 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 Selector Dub Narcotic to the grime kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade. All the underground hits.
All Yellowson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 a guitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Godley & Creme record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lightning Bolt,
The Count Five,
Ossler,
Jesper Dahlback,
Marshall Jefferson,
Big Daddy Kane,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Roxette,
Rapeman,
Gang Green,
Dark Day,
Delon & Dalcan,
Sex Pistols,
Pharoah Sanders,
The Fire Engines,
Nils Olav,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
David McCallum,
Soul II Soul,
Gang Gang Dance,
Crispy Ambulance,
the Swans,
Basic Channel,
The Blues Magoos,
Cymande,
Zero Boys,
Unrelated Segments,
Thee Headcoats,
Todd Rundgren,
Schoolly D,
Bill Near,
The Five Americans,
Lou Christie,
Tommy Roe,
the Human League,
The Techniques,
Infiniti,
The Slackers,
Oneida,
LL Cool J,
ABBA,
Tres Demented,
Khruangbin,
Piero Umiliani,
John Holt,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Alice Coltrane,
Kayak,
Soul Sonic Force,
Isaac Hayes,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Lou Reed,
Newcleus,
Essential Logic,
Anakelly,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Main Source,
The Leaves,
Fugazi,
Mantronix,
Dead Boys,
Monks, Monks, Monks, Monks.
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.