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 Tehran.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the organ 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 Zapp to the jazz 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 The Gladiators. All the underground hits.
All Scan 7 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Names record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Soulsonic Force record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
These Immortal Souls,
Jeff Lynne,
Roxette,
Todd Terry,
Warren Ellis,
Harpers Bizarre,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
8 Eyed Spy,
Thee Headcoats,
Rhythm & Sound,
Duran Duran,
Cluster,
Skaos,
Gang of Four,
Barrington Levy,
the Swans,
The American Breed,
Janne Schatter,
Peter and Kerry,
MDC,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Masters at Work,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Crash Course in Science,
Sonny Sharrock,
Davy DMX,
Ken Boothe,
Underground Resistance,
In Retrospect,
Au Pairs,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Gastr Del Sol,
Rufus Thomas,
Pantytec,
DJ Sneak,
The Doobie Brothers,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Al Stewart,
DJ Style,
David Bowie,
Ice-T,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Sonic Youth,
Kerri Chandler,
The Monochrome Set,
ABBA,
Animal Collective,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Eric B and Rakim,
Brothers Johnson,
Lalann,
Ornette Coleman,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Scratch Acid,
Bob Dylan,
Fluxion,
The Star Department,
X-101,
Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar, Barry Ungar.
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.