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 Burundi and from New York.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 1964 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 oboe 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 Brand Nubian to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Associates. All the underground hits.
All The Mummies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Toasters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Thompson Twins record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Joyce Sims,
Television Personalities,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Birthday Party,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
The Misunderstood,
Lindisfarne,
Donald Byrd,
Jacob Miller,
Andrew Hill,
The Detroit Cobras,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Alison Limerick,
Can,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Stockholm Monsters,
Chris & Cosey,
Lee Hazlewood,
David McCallum,
Erasure,
Sonny Sharrock,
Spoonie Gee,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Adolescents,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Real Kids,
Rapeman,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Selecter,
Eric Copeland,
Eli Mardock,
Schoolly D,
Neil Young,
Royal Trux,
John Lydon,
June Days,
Soulsonic Force,
The Mojo Men,
Lakeside,
The Modern Lovers,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Grauzone,
Echospace,
Bang On A Can,
The Knickerbockers,
The Neon Judgement,
Das Ding,
Johnny Clarke,
Joe Finger,
The Remains,
Jerry's Kids,
Severed Heads,
Derrick Morgan,
Section 25,
The Blues Magoos,
Pantytec,
Hot Snakes,
The Angels of Light,
Prince Buster,
Kaleidoscope, Kaleidoscope, Kaleidoscope, Kaleidoscope.
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.