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 Denmark and from Lille.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 The Motions to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Mojo Men. All the underground hits.
All Arthur Verocai 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 electroclash 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 harpsichord and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sparks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Livin' Joy,
Scientists,
Big Daddy Kane,
Blancmange,
Underground Resistance,
Eric Dolphy,
Interpol,
Cecil Taylor,
David Axelrod,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
John Cale,
Johnny Osbourne,
the Swans,
Lindisfarne,
Bronski Beat,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Fear,
Bauhaus,
Harry Pussy,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Offenders,
Severed Heads,
Gang of Four,
Man Parrish,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
the Slits,
Mandrill,
The Fuzztones,
Ituana,
Quantec,
The Slits,
The Skatalites,
Toni Rubio,
One Last Wish,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
JFA,
Newcleus,
Rosa Yemen,
Tropical Tobacco,
Soft Machine,
The Raincoats,
Jacques Brel,
Althea and Donna,
Fluxion,
Camouflage,
Brand Nubian,
Agent Orange,
Piero Umiliani,
The Real Kids,
Motorama,
Marine Girls,
Maurizio,
Procol Harum,
The Angels of Light,
Jawbox,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Graham Central Station,
Danielle Patucci,
The Modern Lovers,
Johnny Clarke,
Qualms, Qualms, Qualms, Qualms.
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.