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 Vietnam and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 linndrum 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 Jimmy McGriff to the rap 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 The Evens. All the underground hits.
All Hardrive tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Reed record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 an organ and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Von Mondo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Suburban Knight,
Pierre Henry,
ABC,
Audionom,
Flamin' Groovies,
X-102,
T.S.O.L.,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Wake,
Matthew Bourne,
Girls At Our Best!,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Kevin Saunderson,
Bob Dylan,
the Sonics,
Swell Maps,
Half Japanese,
The Sound,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Skaos,
the Association,
Pet Shop Boys,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Bronski Beat,
The Victims,
The Busters,
Terry Callier,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Soul II Soul,
Dark Day,
Kenny Larkin,
Idris Muhammad,
Wings,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Marcia Griffiths,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Ornette Coleman,
The Associates,
Nation of Ulysses,
Livin' Joy,
Whodini,
Cymande,
kango's stein massive,
Unrelated Segments,
The Smiths,
Camberwell Now,
Panda Bear,
The Five Americans,
Agitation Free,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Danielle Patucci,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Mojo Men,
Dawn Penn,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Skatalites,
Tim Buckley,
Marshall Jefferson,
Dennis Brown,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe, Ken Boothe.
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.