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 Kuwait and from Shanghai.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Qualms to the jazz kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Absolute Body Control. All the underground hits.
All The Invisible tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eddi Front 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kerrie Biddell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eve St. Jones,
Anakelly,
Dennis Brown,
The Dave Clark Five,
Electric Prunes,
Donald Byrd,
Shoche,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Fire Engines,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Rites of Spring,
Skarface,
U.S. Maple,
Gang of Four,
Dual Sessions,
Hasil Adkins,
Althea and Donna,
Mr. Review,
Suicide,
Harpers Bizarre,
Cecil Taylor,
The Names,
Ituana,
Simply Red,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Letta Mbulu,
Theoretical Girls,
Panda Bear,
Blossom Toes,
Jawbox,
Delta 5,
Jandek,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
E-Dancer,
The Index,
Moebius,
Joe Smooth,
Yusef Lateef,
David McCallum,
Aswad,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Grauzone,
The American Breed,
Rod Modell,
Motorama,
Supertramp,
The United States of America,
John Holt,
L. Decosne,
Animal Collective,
Silicon Teens,
Hashim,
Kurtis Blow,
Spoonie Gee,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Seeds,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Black Moon,
X-102,
Franke,
The Remains,
The Monochrome Set,
Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes.
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.