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 Honduras and from London.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Liliput to the punk 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 the Swans. All the underground hits.
All Grandmaster Flash tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every D'Angelo 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a harpsichord 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 mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Malaria!,
Tomorrow,
Peter & Gordon,
Mad Mike,
Soulsonic Force,
The Doobie Brothers,
June of 44,
The Count Five,
The Beau Brummels,
Sixth Finger,
Section 25,
Bluetip,
Marine Girls,
Marc Almond,
Chrome,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Letta Mbulu,
The Five Americans,
Ronan,
Ohio Players,
Robert Görl,
The Motions,
Spandau Ballet,
Gang of Four,
Visage,
Gil Scott Heron,
Mr. Review,
a-ha,
Wolf Eyes,
Tubeway Army,
Warsaw,
Mars,
New York Dolls,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Half Japanese,
Dawn Penn,
the Sonics,
The Pop Group,
Joensuu 1685,
Gichy Dan,
Juan Atkins,
Surgeon,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Panda Bear,
Siglo XX,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
The Walker Brothers,
Marshall Jefferson,
Colin Newman,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Monochrome Set,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Standells,
MC5,
Jerry's Kids,
The Evens,
Crooked Eye,
the Bar-Kays,
Jandek,
Dennis Brown,
The Trojans,
Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants, Young Marble Giants.
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.