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 Sudan and from Cairo.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Barrington Levy to the rap 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 The Birthday Party. All the underground hits.
All Cymande tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 a guitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lucky Dragons record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Judy Mowatt,
The Dirtbombs,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Jimmy McGriff,
Hot Snakes,
Pagans,
Ludus,
Stockholm Monsters,
Marine Girls,
Andrew Hill,
Electric Prunes,
Panda Bear,
Byron Stingily,
Minutemen,
Cymande,
Chris & Cosey,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Funkadelic,
Barry Ungar,
Sun Ra,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Swell Maps,
Soul Sonic Force,
Faust,
Junior Murvin,
Jesper Dahlback,
John Coltrane,
Bad Manners,
Blossom Toes,
Basic Channel,
Harry Pussy,
Aural Exciters,
Amon Düül,
Sugar Minott,
Joensuu 1685,
Brothers Johnson,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Loose Ends,
The Leaves,
Jeru the Damaja,
Deadbeat,
Joe Smooth,
JFA,
Technova,
Alice Coltrane,
The American Breed,
Radio Birdman,
the Bar-Kays,
Aaron Thompson,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Dorothy Ashby,
Amazonics,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Human League,
Rotary Connection,
The Electric Prunes,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Fat Boys, Fat Boys, Fat Boys, Fat Boys.
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.