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 Cameroon and from Beijing.
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 Accra and Portland.
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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 The Trojans to the crunk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Inner City. All the underground hits.
All The Angels of Light tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kaleidoscope record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Masters at Work record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Shuggie Otis,
Traffic Nightmare,
Nik Kershaw,
Marmalade,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Sixth Finger,
The Tremeloes,
F. McDonald,
R.M.O.,
Bill Near,
Bush Tetras,
Gastr Del Sol,
Ludus,
Tomorrow,
X-Ray Spex,
Radio Birdman,
Buzzcocks,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Angels of Light,
Derrick May,
Silicon Teens,
Kool Moe Dee,
Pussy Galore,
Audionom,
Drexciya,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Ronan,
Sex Pistols,
cv313,
Ken Boothe,
the Swans,
New Order,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Shoche,
Aural Exciters,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Carl Craig,
Marine Girls,
Tears for Fears,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
David Bowie,
Gang Starr,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Yusef Lateef,
Franke,
The Saints,
The Black Dice,
Von Mondo,
Q65,
The Victims,
The Real Kids,
A Certain Ratio,
The Dead C,
The Skatalites,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Tubeway Army,
Byron Stingily,
Faraquet,
Bobby Sherman,
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, Panda Bear.
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.