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 Nigeria and from Toronto.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 Robert Palmer 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 Roy Ayers to the techno kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Metal Thangz. All the underground hits.
All Scott Walker tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Peter & Gordon record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Saccharine Trust record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Fortunes,
Lebanon Hanover,
Section 25,
Rekid,
Wasted Youth,
Magazine,
Sister Nancy,
Colin Newman,
the Association,
The Blackbyrds,
Arcadia,
K-Klass,
Isaac Hayes,
Faraquet,
Roxette,
Dave Gahan,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Pierre Henry,
Man Parrish,
Ronan,
Sexual Harrassment,
Kerrie Biddell,
Ponytail,
Kerri Chandler,
Lou Reed,
Animal Collective,
Crime,
Swans,
Subhumans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Archie Shepp,
Jawbox,
Barry Ungar,
EPMD,
Frankie Knuckles,
Amazonics,
Gil Scott Heron,
Parry Music,
Mad Mike,
Icehouse,
The Evens,
Curtis Mayfield,
Scratch Acid,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Motions,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Joy Division,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Groovy Waters,
Cymande,
Davy DMX,
Tomorrow,
Pantaleimon,
The Searchers,
Deadbeat,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Slits,
The Velvet Underground,
Bobby Womack,
the Normal,
Boz Scaggs,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby, Dorothy Ashby.
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.