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 Iraq and from Accra.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1975 at the first Throbbing Gristle practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Strawberry Alarm Clock to the disco kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 The Names. All the underground hits.
All Don Cherry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Justin Hinds & The Dominoes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bobby Sherman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minny Pops,
Soul Sonic Force,
Clear Light,
Accadde A,
Simply Red,
Cheater Slicks,
Bad Manners,
Section 25,
Charles Mingus,
Radiopuhelimet,
Peter and Kerry,
Terrestrial Tones,
Pussy Galore,
Eric B and Rakim,
Ultravox,
Soft Cell,
Derrick Morgan,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
D'Angelo,
The Index,
Cybotron,
The Monks,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Leonard Cohen,
John Cale,
Al Stewart,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Last Poets,
MDC,
The Mojo Men,
Technova,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Lalann,
Mantronix,
Bobby Womack,
KRS-One,
Girls At Our Best!,
Arthur Verocai,
The Trojans,
Connie Case,
Vainqueur,
Wings,
Boredoms,
Metal Thangz,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Tomorrow,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Cure,
Idris Muhammad,
Sonny Sharrock,
Scratch Acid,
Peter & Gordon,
Robert Wyatt,
Kool Moe Dee,
Alphaville,
Cecil Taylor,
Dual Sessions,
Television,
Yaz, Yaz, Yaz, Yaz.
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.