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 Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Bowie show in Bromley.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Crash Course in Science to the electroclash 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 Barbara Tucker. All the underground hits.
All Piero Umiliani tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Cowsills record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
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 The Royal Family And The Poor record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
B.T. Express,
Deadbeat,
Ronan,
Lyres,
The Barracudas,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Nik Kershaw,
Donald Byrd,
Franke,
Ronnie Foster,
Gang Gang Dance,
Rekid,
John Coltrane,
Gang Green,
Moss Icon,
Patti Smith,
Lou Christie,
X-102,
In Retrospect,
Black Bananas,
Blossom Toes,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Ludus,
the Slits,
Derrick Morgan,
Thee Headcoats,
Joy Division,
Alison Limerick,
Boredoms,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Selecter,
Peter and Kerry,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Skarface,
the Swans,
Cybotron,
Eddi Front,
Brothers Johnson,
Mandrill,
The Kinks,
T. Rex,
Juan Atkins,
Television,
Chrome,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Marvin Gaye,
Camouflage,
The Five Americans,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Davy DMX,
Marine Girls,
Amon Düül II,
Sugar Minott,
Don Cherry,
Youth Brigade,
Aural Exciters,
Bootsy Collins,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Lalo Schifrin,
Tears for Fears,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Happenings,
Easy Going,
Crime, Crime, Crime, Crime.
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.