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 Burkina and from Manchester.
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 1968 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Beijing.
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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Wally Richardson to the punk 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 Sonny Sharrock. All the underground hits.
All Piero Umiliani tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Matthew Bourne record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 an organ and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Star Department record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fifty Foot Hose,
Deakin,
Duran Duran,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Ponytail,
Juan Atkins,
Unrelated Segments,
Scion,
The J.B.'s,
Tears for Fears,
Soft Cell,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Brothers Johnson,
Technova,
Sarah Menescal,
Mr. Review,
AZ,
Aloha Tigers,
Television Personalities,
The Blues Magoos,
The Monks,
Bobby Byrd,
Isaac Hayes,
Vainqueur,
Josef K,
Crime,
Lou Christie,
Sun Ra,
The Cramps,
Morten Harket,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Fela Kuti,
Bobby Womack,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Fugazi,
Bang On A Can,
Young Marble Giants,
Warren Ellis,
Basic Channel,
Mark Hollis,
X-102,
The Alarm Clocks,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
The Doors,
The Zeros,
Anakelly,
Pantaleimon,
X-101,
The Smoke,
The Cure,
The Golliwogs,
Johnny Clarke,
Lou Reed,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
CMW,
Quando Quango,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Ronan,
One Last Wish,
The Fugs, The Fugs, The Fugs, The Fugs.
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.