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 Montenegro 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 1968 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Arab on Radar to the dance 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 E-Dancer. All the underground hits.
All Grauzone tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crispian St. Peters 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lou Christie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Quantec,
Deepchord,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
KRS-One,
Popol Vuh,
Scott Walker,
Con Funk Shun,
the Bar-Kays,
Derrick Morgan,
Lou Reed,
Howard Jones,
Basic Channel,
China Crisis,
Angry Samoans,
Lalann,
June of 44,
Grandmaster Flash,
Shuggie Otis,
Saccharine Trust,
Blake Baxter,
The Golliwogs,
Peter and Kerry,
Don Cherry,
The Trojans,
Gong,
Lyres,
Essential Logic,
The Motions,
Tropical Tobacco,
Marshall Jefferson,
Bluetip,
Robert Görl,
Lightning Bolt,
Glambeats Corp.,
Black Moon,
Eden Ahbez,
Massinfluence,
Clear Light,
The Smiths,
Japan,
Agitation Free,
Supertramp,
The Associates,
Harpers Bizarre,
Susan Cadogan,
World's Most,
Easy Going,
Country Joe & The Fish,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Big Daddy Kane,
Spoonie Gee,
Rosa Yemen,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Tom Boy,
The Seeds,
John Foxx,
Dave Gahan,
Kayak,
Alton Ellis,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke.
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.