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 Kuwait and from Calgary.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Mumbai.
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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Fluxion to the dance kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Bad Manners. All the underground hits.
All Popol Vuh 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 crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cabaret Voltaire,
Tomorrow,
Yellowson,
Tropical Tobacco,
Ludus,
Erykah Badu,
Arthur Verocai,
D'Angelo,
Swans,
Pet Shop Boys,
Delta 5,
Agitation Free,
Newcleus,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Janne Schatter,
Amazonics,
Tom Boy,
The New Christs,
The Sonics,
Kaleidoscope,
Intrusion,
The Detroit Cobras,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Knickerbockers,
Icehouse,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Zeros,
The Walker Brothers,
Hashim,
Rufus Thomas,
Eve St. Jones,
Idris Muhammad,
Ralphi Rosario,
Slick Rick,
Panda Bear,
Joey Negro,
Supertramp,
Hoover,
Scion,
Todd Rundgren,
Guru Guru,
the Bar-Kays,
Freddie Wadling,
Steve Hackett,
Judy Mowatt,
Marmalade,
Black Flag,
Stiv Bators,
Kenny Larkin,
Yazoo,
Don Cherry,
Procol Harum,
Bronski Beat,
Hasil Adkins,
Camouflage,
The Leaves,
Lower 48,
Tim Buckley,
Donald Byrd,
Unwound,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
the Germs,
a-ha, a-ha, a-ha, a-ha.
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.