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 Libya and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in London.
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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 linndrum 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 Aural Exciters to the rap 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 Nik Kershaw. All the underground hits.
All Alphaville tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Wake record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a ABBA record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Gap Band,
Bill Wells,
Scientists,
David Bowie,
FM Einheit,
The Buckinghams,
Harpers Bizarre,
Man Parrish,
Main Source,
Jacob Miller,
Idris Muhammad,
Sparks,
Eric Copeland,
Barrington Levy,
The Slackers,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Sun Ra,
Infiniti,
Grey Daturas,
MC5,
Sight & Sound,
Kevin Saunderson,
Bauhaus,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Max Romeo,
Iggy Pop,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Human League,
Peter and Kerry,
Barclay James Harvest,
Bang On A Can,
Darondo,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Eden Ahbez,
Flamin' Groovies,
Jerry's Kids,
Glambeats Corp.,
Tears for Fears,
Dorothy Ashby,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Birthday Party,
Drexciya,
Eric B and Rakim,
48th St. Collective,
the Fania All-Stars,
Saccharine Trust,
Albert Ayler,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Lalann,
Dual Sessions,
Piero Umiliani,
The Busters,
Crime,
Symarip,
Severed Heads,
The Saints,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Subhumans,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail.
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.