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 Liberia and from Edmonton.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Portland.
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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the marimba 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 The Durutti Column to the funk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Lucky Dragons. All the underground hits.
All The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Buzzcocks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lebanon Hanover record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Carl Craig,
Lyres,
Idris Muhammad,
Archie Shepp,
Isaac Hayes,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Darondo,
H. Thieme,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Prince Buster,
The Gories,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Howard Jones,
Eddi Front,
Crispy Ambulance,
Lou Christie,
Althea and Donna,
The Neon Judgement,
Jacques Brel,
Oneida,
Arthur Verocai,
Siglo XX,
Crime,
The Searchers,
Echospace,
The Count Five,
Blake Baxter,
Scrapy,
Mandrill,
Barry Ungar,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Pole,
Boz Scaggs,
Quadrant,
The Barracudas,
Joensuu 1685,
Radiopuhelimet,
Duran Duran,
The Raincoats,
Lee Hazlewood,
Erasure,
Danielle Patucci,
Eli Mardock,
T.S.O.L.,
Flash Fearless,
Royal Trux,
New York Dolls,
48th St. Collective,
Graham Central Station,
Throbbing Gristle,
Kenny Larkin,
Loose Ends,
Fatback Band,
X-102,
Jesper Dahlback,
Essential Logic,
The Mojo Men,
X-Ray Spex,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
KRS-One,
Monks,
Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near, Bill Near.
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.