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 Micronesia and from Paris.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 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 Bad Manners to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Gang Gang Dance. All the underground hits.
All Louis and Bebe Barron tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Black Dice record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 guitar and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roy Ayers Ubiquity record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Doors,
Yaz,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Zeros,
Arthur Verocai,
Gang Green,
Bauhaus,
Sound Behaviour,
The United States of America,
The Dirtbombs,
The Young Rascals,
Iggy Pop,
Niagra,
Ken Boothe,
Yazoo,
Motorama,
Ohio Players,
Pylon,
The Seeds,
Terrestrial Tones,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Ronan,
Tres Demented,
MC5,
Scan 7,
H. Thieme,
Lou Christie,
Be Bop Deluxe,
8 Eyed Spy,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Depeche Mode,
The Gories,
Patti Smith,
Laurel Aitken,
the Association,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
The Smiths,
Outsiders,
Barry Ungar,
The Alarm Clocks,
Scott Walker,
Davy DMX,
Public Enemy,
U.S. Maple,
Todd Rundgren,
Yellowson,
Circle Jerks,
Eric B and Rakim,
Magma,
Gichy Dan,
Drexciya,
Delta 5,
Boz Scaggs,
The Gladiators,
Marshall Jefferson,
T.S.O.L.,
Donny Hathaway,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Goldenarms,
Don Cherry,
Intrusion,
Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis.
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.