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 Singapore 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 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
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 John Holt to the grime 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 The Fugs. All the underground hits.
All Ten City tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sparks 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jacob Miller record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Aaron Thompson,
Amazonics,
The Doobie Brothers,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Joe Smooth,
Yazoo,
Theoretical Girls,
Groovy Waters,
Parry Music,
Pierre Henry,
June Days,
Max Romeo,
DJ Sneak,
Zapp,
Soul II Soul,
JFA,
Lalo Schifrin,
Rufus Thomas,
Gregory Isaacs,
Babytalk,
Infiniti,
Ornette Coleman,
Mantronix,
Eden Ahbez,
Tom Boy,
Johnny Clarke,
Mr. Review,
Harpers Bizarre,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Agent Orange,
Tomorrow,
Von Mondo,
The Shadows of Knight,
Sam Rivers,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Marine Girls,
Motorama,
Man Eating Sloth,
Smog,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Wake,
Soft Cell,
Jeru the Damaja,
Jandek,
Yellowson,
Interpol,
Chrome,
F. McDonald,
The Gories,
Joy Division,
Jacob Miller,
John Foxx,
Chris & Cosey,
Sonic Youth,
Kayak,
Japan,
Can,
Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs.
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.