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 Tunisia and from Bologna.
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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 clarinet 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 Beau Brummels to the funk 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 Sight & Sound. All the underground hits.
All Alphaville tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wally Richardson 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Holt record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
A Certain Ratio,
Letta Mbulu,
Lungfish,
Soul II Soul,
David Axelrod,
Theoretical Girls,
Technova,
the Bar-Kays,
Massinfluence,
Matthew Bourne,
Crash Course in Science,
Can,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bobby Sherman,
Black Moon,
Eurythmics,
Quantec,
X-102,
Connie Case,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Popol Vuh,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Kerri Chandler,
Radiohead,
Lakeside,
Harry Pussy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Con Funk Shun,
Gabor Szabo,
H. Thieme,
Television Personalities,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Birthday Party,
Derrick Morgan,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Remains,
Terrestrial Tones,
the Germs,
Black Sheep,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Eric Dolphy,
Moby Grape,
The Offenders,
R.M.O.,
MC5,
Fatback Band,
Prince Buster,
Fluxion,
China Crisis,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Pet Shop Boys,
Model 500,
Avey Tare,
Little Man,
Von Mondo,
Danielle Patucci,
The Dirtbombs,
Minny Pops,
Graham Central Station,
Cecil Taylor,
Laurel Aitken,
Flash Fearless,
Bobby Byrd, Bobby Byrd, Bobby Byrd, Bobby Byrd.
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.