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 Costa Rica and from Cairo.
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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Ken Boothe to the grunge 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 Wally Richardson. All the underground hits.
All Rites of Spring tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Birthday Party 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The J.B.'s record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Erasure,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Jerry's Kids,
The Five Americans,
R.M.O.,
The Young Rascals,
The Mojo Men,
Surgeon,
Kas Product,
The Tremeloes,
Ken Boothe,
Unwound,
The Fortunes,
Index,
Gang Green,
Saccharine Trust,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Derrick Morgan,
Nils Olav,
Wings,
Vladislav Delay,
Nirvana,
David Axelrod,
The Wake,
the Swans,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Monks,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Slick Rick,
Graham Central Station,
Erykah Badu,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Ronnie Foster,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Bang On A Can,
Eric Copeland,
Tropical Tobacco,
New York Dolls,
The Fall,
Radiohead,
The Golliwogs,
Arthur Verocai,
Judy Mowatt,
Nico,
Barry Ungar,
Grauzone,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Gladiators,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Robert Hood,
Glenn Branca,
Lalo Schifrin,
Easy Going,
Robert Görl,
Boredoms,
Icehouse,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Banda Bassotti,
Goldenarms,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48.
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.