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 New Zealand and from Stockholm.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 oboe 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 Cabaret Voltaire to the electroclash 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 The Misunderstood. All the underground hits.
All Yusef Lateef tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ten City record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 808 and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
New York Dolls,
Warren Ellis,
Alice Coltrane,
Amon Düül II,
Deakin,
Zero Boys,
Robert Görl,
Unrelated Segments,
Make Up,
Jimmy McGriff,
Fugazi,
Soft Cell,
Prince Buster,
Al Stewart,
Magazine,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
X-Ray Spex,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
the Human League,
Albert Ayler,
Lightning Bolt,
Donny Hathaway,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Dave Gahan,
Livin' Joy,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Maurizio,
The Pop Group,
the Slits,
The Star Department,
The Fugs,
PIL,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Wally Richardson,
the Fania All-Stars,
MDC,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Eric Copeland,
Bobby Womack,
Essential Logic,
Soulsonic Force,
Y Pants,
Sexual Harrassment,
JFA,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
cv313,
The Index,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Judy Mowatt,
Ronnie Foster,
Godley & Creme,
ABC,
Nas,
the Soft Cell,
Lakeside,
The Selecter,
Joy Division,
Bill Wells,
Sarah Menescal,
Roxy Music,
The Shadows of Knight,
Ponytail,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen.
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.