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 Gabon and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Model 500 to the funk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Piero Umiliani. All the underground hits.
All Sunsets and Hearts tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Curtis Mayfield record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ludus,
Laurel Aitken,
A Certain Ratio,
Funky Four + One,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Prince Buster,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Red Krayola,
Althea and Donna,
Lightning Bolt,
Pharoah Sanders,
Section 25,
Ponytail,
Bob Dylan,
Roy Ayers,
Index,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Davy DMX,
Khruangbin,
David Axelrod,
Sandy B,
Erykah Badu,
The Trojans,
Chrome,
Magazine,
Gong,
Yaz,
Young Marble Giants,
The Doors,
Dennis Brown,
Agitation Free,
The Offenders,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Ultravox,
Lebanon Hanover,
Cameo,
Urselle,
Theoretical Girls,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Invisible,
Throbbing Gristle,
Juan Atkins,
The Standells,
Flamin' Groovies,
Todd Rundgren,
Todd Terry,
Aloha Tigers,
Fat Boys,
Funkadelic,
Lakeside,
Crooked Eye,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Babytalk,
Sugar Minott,
Radiohead,
Man Parrish,
Sällskapet,
Saccharine Trust,
Groovy Waters,
Archie Shepp,
Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez, Eden Ahbez.
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.