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 Samoa and from Manila.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Slave to the electroclash 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. All the underground hits.
All Traffic Nightmare tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Offenders 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Victims record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Pantytec,
the Fania All-Stars,
Bob Dylan,
John Coltrane,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Knickerbockers,
the Germs,
Severed Heads,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Detroit Cobras,
Bobby Womack,
Andrew Hill,
Gregory Isaacs,
Anakelly,
Aloha Tigers,
Scientists,
kango's stein massive,
Black Pus,
Robert Wyatt,
The Velvet Underground,
Dorothy Ashby,
Second Layer,
Eric B and Rakim,
X-102,
Metal Thangz,
Soulsonic Force,
Howard Jones,
Motorama,
Clear Light,
Tom Boy,
Can,
Mo-Dettes,
Patti Smith,
Delta 5,
Inner City,
Funky Four + One,
Joy Division,
Country Teasers,
The American Breed,
The New Christs,
Godley & Creme,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Electric Prunes,
Gichy Dan,
Aural Exciters,
Man Eating Sloth,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
DNA,
Bluetip,
Avey Tare,
The Angels of Light,
DJ Sneak,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Cal Tjader,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Buzzcocks,
The Star Department,
The Mojo Men,
Procol Harum,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Boogie Down Productions,
Drexciya,
Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico.
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.