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 Guinea-Bissau 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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the theremin 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 Index to the rap 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 DNA. All the underground hits.
All The Peanut Butter Conspiracy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kayak record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Subhumans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Foxx,
Silicon Teens,
John Lydon,
The New Christs,
Gabor Szabo,
Lower 48,
Glenn Branca,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Cowsills,
The Human League,
Adolescents,
Surgeon,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Lakeside,
Blancmange,
David Bowie,
Rotary Connection,
Das Ding,
Barry Ungar,
Y Pants,
Monolake,
Sex Pistols,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
A Certain Ratio,
The Misunderstood,
The Slits,
Royal Trux,
Chris Corsano,
Drexciya,
The Cramps,
UT,
The Pop Group,
Tres Demented,
Livin' Joy,
Soft Cell,
The Golliwogs,
The Smoke,
Cecil Taylor,
Brothers Johnson,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Kaleidoscope,
Basic Channel,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
The Last Poets,
Subhumans,
Nik Kershaw,
Dorothy Ashby,
Brand Nubian,
Godley & Creme,
Aloha Tigers,
Ituana,
Fear,
Roxette,
Niagra,
Hashim,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Flesh Eaters,
Derrick Morgan,
Harmonia,
Ten City, Ten City, Ten City, Ten City.
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.