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 Mali and from Copenhagen.
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 1968 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Don Cherry 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 Zero Boys. All the underground hits.
All Brass Construction tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Smiths 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a the Germs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Babytalk,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Roy Ayers,
Traffic Nightmare,
Roxy Music,
The Modern Lovers,
Schoolly D,
Soft Machine,
The Wake,
Aloha Tigers,
Alton Ellis,
Television Personalities,
Tears for Fears,
CMW,
Spoonie Gee,
Joyce Sims,
Pole,
The Names,
Robert Wyatt,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Livin' Joy,
Fad Gadget,
Grandmaster Flash,
Amon Düül II,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Agent Orange,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Rosa Yemen,
Joey Negro,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Walker Brothers,
FM Einheit,
Wire,
Chris & Cosey,
Flamin' Groovies,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Kurtis Blow,
AZ,
Alice Coltrane,
Wasted Youth,
E-Dancer,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Dark Day,
Gregory Isaacs,
Soulsonic Force,
JFA,
Big Daddy Kane,
Jandek,
Archie Shepp,
DJ Sneak,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Main Source,
Adolescents,
Heaven 17,
Soft Cell,
The Evens,
The Gories,
Ralphi Rosario,
Underground Resistance,
Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now, Camberwell Now.
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.