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 Sudan and from Salvador.
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 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Bobby Byrd to the grunge 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 Jawbox. All the underground hits.
All Lonnie Liston Smith tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Selector Dub Narcotic 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Barracudas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rhythm & Sound,
Ken Boothe,
Sam Rivers,
DJ Sneak,
Connie Case,
Alton Ellis,
Robert Hood,
Letta Mbulu,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Mo-Dettes,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Barry Ungar,
Ultravox,
The Black Dice,
ABC,
CMW,
Metal Thangz,
Agent Orange,
Laurel Aitken,
Black Bananas,
the Association,
Kurtis Blow,
The Victims,
The Cure,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Hoover,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Japan,
Pussy Galore,
Bang On A Can,
Sugar Minott,
Shuggie Otis,
The Alarm Clocks,
Unrelated Segments,
The Skatalites,
Ponytail,
Excepter,
Crispy Ambulance,
Nik Kershaw,
Marc Almond,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Dave Gahan,
Gichy Dan,
Camberwell Now,
Idris Muhammad,
Basic Channel,
Minor Threat,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Scion,
Lalann,
The Birthday Party,
Spoonie Gee,
F. McDonald,
R.M.O.,
Henry Cow,
Peter & Gordon,
Eric B and Rakim,
Blancmange,
Fat Boys,
Whodini,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Marvin Gaye,
Alphaville,
Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl, Robert Görl.
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.