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 Latvia and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 808 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 The American Breed to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Babytalk. All the underground hits.
All The Dave Clark Five tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rakim record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 theremin and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Blackbyrds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Grauzone,
The Electric Prunes,
Quando Quango,
Gastr Del Sol,
Skarface,
Mr. Review,
Kas Product,
Franke,
Motorama,
Erasure,
The Fuzztones,
Lou Reed,
Scientists,
Neu!,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Lyres,
48th St. Collective,
Barbara Tucker,
E-Dancer,
Bobby Byrd,
Isaac Hayes,
Faraquet,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Fela Kuti,
The Moody Blues,
Arthur Verocai,
Goldenarms,
Urselle,
Japan,
Junior Murvin,
The Sound,
Livin' Joy,
Slick Rick,
Flipper,
Gang Green,
Ronan,
Lungfish,
Bootsy Collins,
Todd Rundgren,
Aswad,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Slave,
Moby Grape,
Freddie Wadling,
Nick Fraelich,
Jesper Dahlback,
Altered Images,
The Misunderstood,
Althea and Donna,
Electric Prunes,
Sandy B,
Lalann,
The Monochrome Set,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
June of 44,
The Remains,
Blancmange,
MDC,
Barclay James Harvest,
L. Decosne,
Shoche, Shoche, Shoche, Shoche.
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.