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 Bolivia and from Houston.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Human League show in Sheffield.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Mr. Review to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Archie Shepp. All the underground hits.
All Sugar Minott tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Flash Fearless record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Terrestrial Tones 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?
Flamin' Groovies,
Kerri Chandler,
Mo-Dettes,
Dave Gahan,
The Litter,
Jeff Lynne,
Skaos,
Crooked Eye,
Soul II Soul,
Donny Hathaway,
The Electric Prunes,
Easy Going,
Charles Mingus,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Albert Ayler,
Make Up,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
H. Thieme,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Rosa Yemen,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Parry Music,
The Real Kids,
Robert Hood,
EPMD,
Darondo,
Inner City,
In Retrospect,
The Sonics,
Deakin,
Arab on Radar,
Man Parrish,
Terrestrial Tones,
Gastr Del Sol,
Blancmange,
Pet Shop Boys,
Intrusion,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Kayak,
Tim Buckley,
E-Dancer,
Eurythmics,
Jerry's Kids,
Gang Green,
Spandau Ballet,
Howard Jones,
The Wake,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Judy Mowatt,
D'Angelo,
Stockholm Monsters,
Lakeside,
Gichy Dan,
Neil Young,
Stereo Dub,
Maleditus Sound,
The Last Poets,
ABBA,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Max Romeo,
Arthur Verocai, Arthur Verocai, Arthur Verocai, Arthur Verocai.
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.