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 Egypt and from Edmonton.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 guitar 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 Warren Ellis to the funk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Robert Wyatt. All the underground hits.
All Arthur Verocai tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Cabaret Voltaire 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a David Axelrod record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Bar-Kays,
Laurel Aitken,
Dawn Penn,
Soft Cell,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
OOIOO,
10cc,
Echospace,
AZ,
The Neon Judgement,
Bill Near,
Althea and Donna,
Aloha Tigers,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Groovy Waters,
PIL,
Nation of Ulysses,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Sixth Finger,
One Last Wish,
Jandek,
Whodini,
Letta Mbulu,
The Grass Roots,
Barrington Levy,
Youth Brigade,
Barry Ungar,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Black Bananas,
The Five Americans,
La Düsseldorf,
Hot Snakes,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Jimmy McGriff,
Cecil Taylor,
Marine Girls,
Terry Callier,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Joe Finger,
The Barracudas,
The Doors,
Lungfish,
Brand Nubian,
Jerry Gold Smith,
DJ Sneak,
The Names,
Davy DMX,
The Gun Club,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Oblivians,
Eric B and Rakim,
Blossom Toes,
Ultra Naté,
Eric Copeland,
Jacob Miller,
Procol Harum,
Outsiders,
Jerry's Kids,
Steve Hackett,
Ituana, Ituana, Ituana, Ituana.
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.