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 Guatemala and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 spring reverb 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 KRS-One to the disco 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 Ohio Players. All the underground hits.
All One Last Wish tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Gladiators record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Malaria! record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mary Jane Girls,
The New Christs,
Fugazi,
Terry Callier,
X-Ray Spex,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
the Normal,
Roxy Music,
Ronan,
John Lydon,
Barrington Levy,
Guru Guru,
EPMD,
Unrelated Segments,
Pierre Henry,
Monks,
June Days,
Andrew Hill,
Easy Going,
Lindisfarne,
Rufus Thomas,
These Immortal Souls,
Audionom,
Gerry Rafferty,
Nils Olav,
The United States of America,
The Music Machine,
Donny Hathaway,
Eric B and Rakim,
Funkadelic,
Marshall Jefferson,
Sandy B,
Index,
Dawn Penn,
Fear,
Sister Nancy,
Throbbing Gristle,
Average White Band,
UT,
Scientists,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Bobby Hutcherson,
The Evens,
Sugar Minott,
Vainqueur,
Sunsets and Hearts,
a-ha,
Heaven 17,
Barry Ungar,
Chris Corsano,
Glenn Branca,
KRS-One,
The Kinks,
Dead Boys,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Martian,
Alison Limerick,
Trumans Water,
Drive Like Jehu,
Nirvana,
Ultravox,
Delon & Dalcan,
Massinfluence, Massinfluence, Massinfluence, Massinfluence.
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.