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 Libya 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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 güiro 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 Young Marble Giants to the jazz kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Radio Birdman. All the underground hits.
All Cal Tjader tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lalo Schifrin record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spoonie Gee record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Godley & Creme,
Second Layer,
Masters at Work,
JFA,
the Slits,
48th St. Collective,
Al Stewart,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Camberwell Now,
Grandmaster Flash,
Yazoo,
The Neon Judgement,
Aaron Thompson,
X-Ray Spex,
Jacob Miller,
Radiohead,
D'Angelo,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Bluetip,
Television Personalities,
Lakeside,
Pulsallama,
Blake Baxter,
Sun City Girls,
Lalo Schifrin,
Jeff Mills,
Cybotron,
Loose Ends,
Radiopuhelimet,
Flipper,
The Skatalites,
Rosa Yemen,
Au Pairs,
Dennis Brown,
Adolescents,
Albert Ayler,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Duran Duran,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Arcadia,
The Gun Club,
Amon Düül,
F. McDonald,
Sexual Harrassment,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Lebanon Hanover,
Marc Almond,
Schoolly D,
Nik Kershaw,
the Association,
Angry Samoans,
Absolute Body Control,
The Seeds,
Patti Smith,
Pantytec,
The Fuzztones,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
New York Dolls,
Traffic Nightmare,
Country Teasers, Country Teasers, Country Teasers, Country Teasers.
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.