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 Congo and from Seoul.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manila and Hong Kong.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare 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 Beasts of Bourbon to the funk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Youth Brigade. All the underground hits.
All Inner City tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dorothy Ashby record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bobby Womack record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Barrington Levy,
Nirvana,
Drexciya,
Crime,
Tropical Tobacco,
Country Teasers,
KRS-One,
Thompson Twins,
Grauzone,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
The American Breed,
The Leaves,
Minor Threat,
Sugar Minott,
World's Most,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Hashim,
The Count Five,
Minutemen,
Anthony Braxton,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Toasters,
A Certain Ratio,
Bang On A Can,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The Five Americans,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Faraquet,
The Skatalites,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
the Bar-Kays,
Johnny Clarke,
Aloha Tigers,
Robert Görl,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Juan Atkins,
The Wake,
Prince Buster,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Faust,
Severed Heads,
Fad Gadget,
Byron Stingily,
MC5,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Make Up,
The Doobie Brothers,
Scan 7,
The Fuzztones,
Jeru the Damaja,
The Misunderstood,
Sandy B,
John Cale,
The Divine Comedy,
Jerry's Kids,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Victims, The Victims, The Victims, The Victims.
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.