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 Namibia and from Houston.
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 1969 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Rufus Thomas to the rap 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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All The Cosmic Jokers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Animal Collective 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cowsills record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The United States of America,
Ultravox,
The Last Poets,
Grauzone,
Chrome,
The Victims,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Aaron Thompson,
Lebanon Hanover,
Iggy Pop,
Matthew Halsall,
Eric Copeland,
Minutemen,
Young Marble Giants,
Roger Hodgson,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Marvin Gaye,
Stiv Bators,
Mary Jane Girls,
Joy Division,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Andrew Hill,
Joyce Sims,
Vladislav Delay,
Sonic Youth,
Dawn Penn,
Popol Vuh,
Angry Samoans,
Subhumans,
Shuggie Otis,
Gang Green,
Interpol,
Tears for Fears,
Dorothy Ashby,
Nirvana,
Ten City,
Amon Düül,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Monochrome Set,
Crispian St. Peters,
Goldenarms,
Terrestrial Tones,
Jimmy McGriff,
Kerri Chandler,
Excepter,
John Coltrane,
K-Klass,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Eurythmics,
New Age Steppers,
Robert Hood,
The Tremeloes,
Lucky Dragons,
The Gap Band,
Brick,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Dual Sessions,
Wolf Eyes,
Thee Headcoats,
Aloha Tigers,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Residents, The Residents, The Residents, The Residents.
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.