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 Saudi Arabia and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1965 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Aswad 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 Monks. All the underground hits.
All Cheater Slicks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slits 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a New Order record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Barbara Tucker,
Josef K,
Bootsy Collins,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Nick Fraelich,
E-Dancer,
Amon Düül II,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Bauhaus,
the Bar-Kays,
X-101,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Names,
EPMD,
These Immortal Souls,
Can,
Heaven 17,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Fugs,
Circle Jerks,
Crooked Eye,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Chris & Cosey,
Flipper,
LL Cool J,
Faust,
The Walker Brothers,
Rotary Connection,
Lindisfarne,
OOIOO,
James Chance & The Contortions,
FM Einheit,
The Flesh Eaters,
Mark Hollis,
Symarip,
Zero Boys,
Matthew Bourne,
The Velvet Underground,
Rosa Yemen,
David McCallum,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Mandrill,
Aswad,
Sällskapet,
The Trojans,
Hot Snakes,
June Days,
Franke,
James White and The Blacks,
Gastr Del Sol,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
the Slits,
Sarah Menescal,
Infiniti,
Tomorrow,
Lou Reed,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Jeff Lynne,
The Happenings,
T. Rex,
Gerry Rafferty,
Amazonics,
Public Enemy, Public Enemy, Public Enemy, Public Enemy.
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.