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 Belize and from Bremen.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lyon and Lagos.
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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Fortunes 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 ABBA. All the underground hits.
All The Seeds tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mark Hollis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lindisfarne,
The Misunderstood,
Arcadia,
Erykah Badu,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Ten City,
ABBA,
Fela Kuti,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Crispian St. Peters,
Model 500,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Schoolly D,
Rhythm & Sound,
Vainqueur,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Brass Construction,
Drexciya,
Sight & Sound,
Bill Near,
Loose Ends,
Sun City Girls,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Henry Cow,
Derrick May,
The Moody Blues,
Susan Cadogan,
The Neon Judgement,
Dorothy Ashby,
Pantaleimon,
The Victims,
Eden Ahbez,
The Index,
The Busters,
Danielle Patucci,
JFA,
Rosa Yemen,
Swans,
Hot Snakes,
Alphaville,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Searchers,
Soft Cell,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Jandek,
The Last Poets,
Marmalade,
Sugar Minott,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The J.B.'s,
The Mummies,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Dead Boys,
Dark Day,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
The Skatalites,
Max Romeo,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
These Immortal Souls,
Yusef Lateef,
Public Enemy, Public Enemy, Public Enemy, Public Enemy.
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.