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 Togo and from Sao Paulo.
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 1964 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Woodstock.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Leaves to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Peanut Butter Conspiracy. All the underground hits.
All Eli Mardock tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Stiv Bators record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Freddie Wadling,
Chris & Cosey,
Royal Trux,
Visage,
Eli Mardock,
Ash Ra Tempel,
UT,
James White and The Blacks,
Frankie Knuckles,
Ornette Coleman,
Bronski Beat,
Arcadia,
Clear Light,
Black Sheep,
Terry Callier,
Aloha Tigers,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Camouflage,
Wings,
Eurythmics,
the Sonics,
Johnny Osbourne,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Jimmy McGriff,
Porter Ricks,
Japan,
Moebius,
Magazine,
Marvin Gaye,
Kenny Larkin,
Camberwell Now,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Minny Pops,
Das Ding,
Nils Olav,
Livin' Joy,
Reuben Wilson,
Lalo Schifrin,
Black Pus,
Danielle Patucci,
Thee Headcoats,
Monolake,
Radio Birdman,
Pierre Henry,
Lou Christie,
The Cure,
Duran Duran,
Joensuu 1685,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Real Kids,
New Age Steppers,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Fugs,
Godley & Creme,
Wasted Youth,
Wally Richardson,
Buzzcocks,
Crash Course in Science,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Dead Boys,
Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber 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.