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 Italy and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 808 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 Ossler to the punk kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 X-Ray Spex. All the underground hits.
All The Gladiators tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Can record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alton Ellis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Outsiders,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Minnie Riperton,
Lyres,
Subhumans,
Funky Four + One,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Urselle,
Yusef Lateef,
Ronan,
Boz Scaggs,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Das Ding,
Alton Ellis,
8 Eyed Spy,
World's Most,
June Days,
The Searchers,
Bauhaus,
Harmonia,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Wake,
Angry Samoans,
Pagans,
Hasil Adkins,
The Blackbyrds,
X-101,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Black Sheep,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Roxy Music,
Eric Dolphy,
Monks,
Shuggie Otis,
Graham Central Station,
June of 44,
Man Eating Sloth,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Johnny Osbourne,
Andrew Hill,
Ituana,
The Move,
Eddi Front,
Glambeats Corp.,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Janne Schatter,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Lou Christie,
Bizarre Inc.,
Clear Light,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Swell Maps,
Cameo,
Supertramp,
Massinfluence,
Vainqueur,
Mars,
Minutemen,
Whodini,
Nas, Nas, Nas, Nas.
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.