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 Turkey and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 sitar 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 Warsaw to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Tommy Roe. All the underground hits.
All Black Sheep tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Görl 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 '90s.
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 Skarface record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Curtis Mayfield,
The Toasters,
Magazine,
Sam Rivers,
Kurtis Blow,
Funkadelic,
Andrew Hill,
The United States of America,
The Techniques,
Fort Wilson Riot,
KRS-One,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
OOIOO,
Gastr Del Sol,
Eric Dolphy,
Lou Reed,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
New York Dolls,
Junior Murvin,
Q65,
The American Breed,
Fear,
Lungfish,
Television Personalities,
Boogie Down Productions,
Arthur Verocai,
Absolute Body Control,
EPMD,
Khruangbin,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Slits,
Masters at Work,
Whodini,
Ronan,
Alphaville,
The Sonics,
The Seeds,
Schoolly D,
Malaria!,
Joensuu 1685,
Leonard Cohen,
Cecil Taylor,
Marvin Gaye,
Kerrie Biddell,
The Blues Magoos,
Stiv Bators,
Wasted Youth,
Drexciya,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Youth Brigade,
Sun Ra,
The Stooges,
Country Joe & The Fish,
The Mummies,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Bill Wells,
Maurizio,
Pantytec,
Idris Muhammad,
Todd Terry, Todd Terry, Todd Terry, Todd Terry.
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.