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 Tajikistan and from Columbus.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and London.
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 arpeggiator 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 These Immortal Souls to the grunge 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 The Knickerbockers. All the underground hits.
All Second Layer tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Doors record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brand Nubian record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Magma,
John Holt,
The Selecter,
Maurizio,
U.S. Maple,
Rufus Thomas,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Mummies,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Birthday Party,
Subhumans,
Television Personalities,
Rekid,
Fatback Band,
Chris Corsano,
Black Moon,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Blackbyrds,
Trumans Water,
Yusef Lateef,
The Victims,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Invisible,
Crispy Ambulance,
Public Enemy,
The Durutti Column,
The Fugs,
Max Romeo,
Spandau Ballet,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Quadrant,
Lou Reed,
Curtis Mayfield,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Kool Moe Dee,
Gang Starr,
Harpers Bizarre,
Boredoms,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Black Dice,
Hardrive,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Lightning Bolt,
Davy DMX,
Alton Ellis,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Toasters,
Fat Boys,
Eric Dolphy,
China Crisis,
The Searchers,
Mantronix,
John Cale,
Ken Boothe,
Scientists,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Accadde A,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Loose Ends,
Visage, Visage, Visage, Visage.
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.