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 Maldives and from Manila.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Jesper Dahlbäck to the crunk 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 Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu. All the underground hits.
All Young Marble Giants tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Black Dice 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Richard Hell and the Voidoids record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Outsiders,
The Raincoats,
Soulsonic Force,
Young Marble Giants,
Simply Red,
Delta 5,
Minnie Riperton,
Cabaret Voltaire,
KRS-One,
Alison Limerick,
Surgeon,
Gong,
the Germs,
The Electric Prunes,
Nils Olav,
Radiopuhelimet,
Brand Nubian,
Smog,
Average White Band,
Essential Logic,
The Searchers,
Boogie Down Productions,
Ohio Players,
The Wake,
Godley & Creme,
Nik Kershaw,
UT,
The Monochrome Set,
kango's stein massive,
The Fuzztones,
The Standells,
Bootsy Collins,
Skaos,
Nick Fraelich,
Public Enemy,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Das Ding,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Flash Fearless,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Flesh Eaters,
Crime,
The Vogues,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Aswad,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Pierre Henry,
Ultimate Spinach,
Peter & Gordon,
Delon & Dalcan,
Fugazi,
Arab on Radar,
The Fugs,
Monks,
Sällskapet,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Angels of Light,
The Residents,
The Five Americans,
Motorama,
Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D, Schoolly D.
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.