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 Turkmenistan and from Philadelphia.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Gladiators to the grime kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Masters at Work. All the underground hits.
All Marine Girls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barrington Levy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jawbox record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Crooked Eye,
The Martian,
Inner City,
Rakim,
Ronan,
Make Up,
Neu!,
Terrestrial Tones,
Underground Resistance,
Bizarre Inc.,
Henry Cow,
Yellowson,
Anakelly,
Letta Mbulu,
Judy Mowatt,
Brass Construction,
The Angels of Light,
Porter Ricks,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Cal Tjader,
Ornette Coleman,
Agitation Free,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Litter,
Anthony Braxton,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Ultravox,
Isaac Hayes,
Basic Channel,
Alton Ellis,
Howard Jones,
La Düsseldorf,
Spoonie Gee,
Skriet,
Agent Orange,
OOIOO,
Deakin,
Sandy B,
Simply Red,
New Order,
Man Parrish,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Music Machine,
Scientists,
Reuben Wilson,
The Mojo Men,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
CMW,
Andrew Hill,
Skarface,
Jacques Brel,
Arthur Verocai,
Soul II Soul,
The Happenings,
Pere Ubu,
The Move,
The Leaves,
Goldenarms,
Black Moon, Black Moon, Black Moon, Black Moon.
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.