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 Argentina and from Johannesburg.
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 1964 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Wings to the dance kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Faust. All the underground hits.
All The Residents tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tommy Roe record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Laurel Aitken record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
Rekid,
Don Cherry,
The Walker Brothers,
Jeff Mills,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
K-Klass,
Nirvana,
Bootsy Collins,
Lebanon Hanover,
Dave Gahan,
Lakeside,
Mo-Dettes,
Young Marble Giants,
John Holt,
Piero Umiliani,
Bang On A Can,
Flipper,
A Certain Ratio,
Ultimate Spinach,
Slave,
Black Bananas,
Lou Reed,
Whodini,
Robert Wyatt,
Fear,
One Last Wish,
The Human League,
Jerry's Kids,
The Names,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Angels of Light,
Little Man,
10cc,
The Kinks,
The Pop Group,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Mr. Review,
Royal Trux,
Juan Atkins,
The United States of America,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Archie Shepp,
Susan Cadogan,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Dawn Penn,
Lalo Schifrin,
Country Joe & The Fish,
H. Thieme,
The Index,
Neil Young,
Eddi Front,
Robert Görl,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Birthday Party,
Lalann,
Bad Manners,
Stetsasonic,
Accadde A,
Schoolly D,
Ossler,
Pagans,
Warren Ellis, Warren Ellis, Warren Ellis, Warren Ellis.
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.