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 Qatar and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in 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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 arpeggiator 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 Gil Scott Heron to the jazz kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Slave. All the underground hits.
All Scion tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bill Near 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Main Source record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mission of Burma,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Symarip,
Stockholm Monsters,
Sarah Menescal,
ABC,
a-ha,
Crispian St. Peters,
Altered Images,
Harmonia,
Camberwell Now,
Roxy Music,
Harry Pussy,
Connie Case,
Avey Tare,
Grandmaster Flash,
Motorama,
La Düsseldorf,
Cameo,
Kevin Saunderson,
Fad Gadget,
Funkadelic,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Eden Ahbez,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Pussy Galore,
The Techniques,
Prince Buster,
R.M.O.,
Dual Sessions,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Skaos,
Radiohead,
Nik Kershaw,
T. Rex,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Dead Boys,
Cymande,
Thee Headcoats,
Ponytail,
Schoolly D,
The J.B.'s,
X-Ray Spex,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Pharoah Sanders,
Anthony Braxton,
The Index,
Accadde A,
Boz Scaggs,
Adolescents,
Buzzcocks,
JFA,
Jawbox,
Tears for Fears,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Flash Fearless,
Rekid,
Scientists, Scientists, Scientists, Scientists.
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.