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 Georgia and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Accra.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Charles Mingus to the techno 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 Dorothy Ashby. All the underground hits.
All Peter and Kerry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Görl 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Robert Wyatt record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
John Coltrane,
John Cale,
Q and Not U,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Cowsills,
Zapp,
DNA,
Jeff Lynne,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Moebius,
Sun Ra,
Marcia Griffiths,
Pulsallama,
The American Breed,
Iggy Pop,
Althea and Donna,
Bluetip,
Deepchord,
Anthony Braxton,
The Searchers,
Pantaleimon,
Camberwell Now,
Bill Near,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Drive Like Jehu,
Adolescents,
The Victims,
Niagra,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
JFA,
Bronski Beat,
The Seeds,
Archie Shepp,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
DJ Sneak,
Aaron Thompson,
The Black Dice,
Stetsasonic,
Zero Boys,
The Velvet Underground,
Robert Hood,
the Human League,
Roxy Music,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
KRS-One,
Max Romeo,
Thompson Twins,
EPMD,
Gang of Four,
Grauzone,
Carl Craig,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Tomorrow,
Barclay James Harvest,
U.S. Maple,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Matthew Bourne,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band, Fatback Band.
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.