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 Maldives and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 theremin 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 Roy Ayers Ubiquity to the techno kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Ken Boothe. All the underground hits.
All Harry Pussy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Christie 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kurtis Blow record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Thompson Twins,
Alice Coltrane,
Mantronix,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Slave,
Eddi Front,
Shuggie Otis,
Barclay James Harvest,
Harmonia,
The Barracudas,
Morten Harket,
The Blues Magoos,
Brand Nubian,
the Swans,
Q and Not U,
Darondo,
The Victims,
Brick,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Jawbox,
B.T. Express,
Warsaw,
Graham Central Station,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Neil Young,
Rufus Thomas,
Moby Grape,
Lungfish,
John Foxx,
Yaz,
The Star Department,
Loose Ends,
Minnie Riperton,
Jeff Mills,
The Last Poets,
Dark Day,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Subhumans,
Ituana,
Spandau Ballet,
Babytalk,
The Litter,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Inner City,
KRS-One,
Underground Resistance,
Circle Jerks,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Yazoo,
The Slackers,
Barry Ungar,
Fugazi,
Monks,
Bluetip,
LL Cool J,
Surgeon,
The Velvet Underground,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
China Crisis,
The Saints, The Saints, The Saints, The Saints.
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.