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 Poland and from Milan.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Joyce Sims to the jazz 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 Nas. All the underground hits.
All The Moody Blues tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Boredoms record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Be Bop Deluxe,
Tom Boy,
Mark Hollis,
Marmalade,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Red Krayola,
Con Funk Shun,
Marshall Jefferson,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Kurtis Blow,
T. Rex,
Lou Christie,
Siglo XX,
The Leaves,
Rotary Connection,
Darondo,
Adolescents,
OOIOO,
Brick,
The Birthday Party,
Jawbox,
Vainqueur,
The Remains,
a-ha,
Flipper,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Danielle Patucci,
Accadde A,
Matthew Halsall,
Camouflage,
Unrelated Segments,
KRS-One,
Derrick May,
Marcia Griffiths,
Massinfluence,
Flamin' Groovies,
Clear Light,
Donny Hathaway,
Roy Ayers,
Sun City Girls,
Ohio Players,
The Smoke,
Popol Vuh,
Toni Rubio,
Letta Mbulu,
Television,
48th St. Collective,
Rakim,
The Flesh Eaters,
Sonny Sharrock,
Yaz,
Sexual Harrassment,
Model 500,
Pussy Galore,
Barclay James Harvest,
The Toasters,
Lucky Dragons,
Fatback Band,
Surgeon,
The J.B.'s,
The Knickerbockers,
Chrome,
Tropical Tobacco, Tropical Tobacco, Tropical Tobacco, Tropical Tobacco.
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.