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 St Kitts & Nevis and from Glasgow.
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 Cairo and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 X-102 to the grime 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 Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog. All the underground hits.
All Rapeman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 rhodes and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lalann record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nation of Ulysses,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Skarface,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Barry Ungar,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Bobby Womack,
The Modern Lovers,
The Fall,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Real Kids,
Spoonie Gee,
Soft Machine,
The Knickerbockers,
Jesper Dahlback,
Technova,
John Lydon,
The Buckinghams,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Dawn Penn,
Spandau Ballet,
The Blackbyrds,
Duran Duran,
Laurel Aitken,
The Seeds,
Jeff Lynne,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Nick Fraelich,
H. Thieme,
Barrington Levy,
Lungfish,
Magazine,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Litter,
Harry Pussy,
Kayak,
Schoolly D,
Lucky Dragons,
Henry Cow,
Pere Ubu,
Rapeman,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Symarip,
Warsaw,
Davy DMX,
Pierre Henry,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Marcia Griffiths,
Unrelated Segments,
Gang of Four,
Joe Smooth,
Wolf Eyes,
Ludus,
the Swans,
Suburban Knight,
Smog,
Clear Light,
Marvin Gaye,
Animal Collective,
New Order,
Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins, Thompson Twins.
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.