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 Haiti and from Stockholm.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Winnipeg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 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 Fort Wilson Riot to the crunk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Gichy Dan. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rufus Thomas 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bob Dylan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pantaleimon,
The Dead C,
Ralphi Rosario,
Grey Daturas,
Pulsallama,
Con Funk Shun,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Robert Görl,
David Axelrod,
Prince Buster,
The Motions,
The Standells,
June of 44,
EPMD,
The Star Department,
Icehouse,
The Angels of Light,
Cecil Taylor,
Duran Duran,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Camberwell Now,
Clear Light,
Aloha Tigers,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Skatalites,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Shuggie Otis,
Patti Smith,
Magazine,
Vladislav Delay,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Fear,
Soulsonic Force,
Sex Pistols,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Y Pants,
Black Flag,
Matthew Bourne,
June Days,
PIL,
The Martian,
Nas,
Boogie Down Productions,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Dorothy Ashby,
The Pretty Things,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Yaz,
Joe Finger,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Iggy Pop,
X-102,
Wally Richardson,
Eve St. Jones,
Bronski Beat,
Dawn Penn,
the Swans,
Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks, Cheater Slicks.
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.