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 Trinidad & Tobago and from Salvador.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Halifax 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 1978 at the first Visage practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the oboe 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 Henry Cow to the grime kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Martian. All the underground hits.
All Janne Schatter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jeru the Damaja record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Dark Day,
T. Rex,
Jawbox,
Joey Negro,
Bobby Sherman,
Barry Ungar,
Man Parrish,
Accadde A,
Flipper,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Soul Sonic Force,
Connie Case,
The American Breed,
Public Image Ltd.,
Dave Gahan,
Kas Product,
Sight & Sound,
Babytalk,
Jandek,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Royal Trux,
Warsaw,
Rosa Yemen,
Kenny Larkin,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Cure,
Wire,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Todd Rundgren,
Essential Logic,
The Star Department,
Ice-T,
Pantytec,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Peter and Kerry,
Scan 7,
Colin Newman,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Don Cherry,
Absolute Body Control,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Isaac Hayes,
Intrusion,
Joyce Sims,
Grandmaster Flash,
Joy Division,
Donny Hathaway,
Skarface,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Rotary Connection,
EPMD,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Eric Copeland,
The Raincoats,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Kaleidoscope,
Skaos,
Blossom Toes,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs, Notorious Big And Bone Thugs, Notorious Big And Bone Thugs, Notorious Big And Bone Thugs.
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.