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 Kazakhstan and from Lyon.
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 1964 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Barry Ungar to the rap 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 Flash Fearless. All the underground hits.
All Sunsets and Hearts tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 harpsichord and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Quando Quango record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The Monks,
the Swans,
Nik Kershaw,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Susan Cadogan,
Traffic Nightmare,
Sister Nancy,
X-Ray Spex,
Crispy Ambulance,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Public Image Ltd.,
Bronski Beat,
Oblivians,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Chris Corsano,
The Doobie Brothers,
Rekid,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Young Rascals,
Kayak,
Pulsallama,
Kas Product,
The Skatalites,
Ronnie Foster,
10cc,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Boredoms,
Marcia Griffiths,
Jeff Mills,
The Names,
James White and The Blacks,
Fad Gadget,
Pere Ubu,
Flamin' Groovies,
Grauzone,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Tears for Fears,
Hasil Adkins,
JFA,
Erasure,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Cameo,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Zero Boys,
T.S.O.L.,
Masters at Work,
Funky Four + One,
Lindisfarne,
Quadrant,
ABBA,
Eve St. Jones,
Silicon Teens,
Bobby Sherman,
The Modern Lovers,
Sexual Harrassment,
Khruangbin,
Boz Scaggs,
Brass Construction,
Alphaville,
Alice Coltrane,
Jacob Miller,
Marmalade, Marmalade, Marmalade, Marmalade.
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.