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 Nauru and from Paris.
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 1969 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 güiro 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 Lungfish to the punk kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 James White and The Blacks. All the underground hits.
All Chrome tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ten City record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bronski Beat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pet Shop Boys,
Fugazi,
Jeff Mills,
The Mummies,
Bauhaus,
Howard Jones,
cv313,
Yazoo,
The Dirtbombs,
Fela Kuti,
Sonny Sharrock,
Ossler,
Quantec,
The Pretty Things,
Lucky Dragons,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
One Last Wish,
Crime,
Kool Moe Dee,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Slackers,
Rakim,
Spoonie Gee,
Pierre Henry,
Tomorrow,
The Sonics,
Crispian St. Peters,
Lakeside,
Clear Light,
the Germs,
Magazine,
The Blackbyrds,
Aaron Thompson,
The Moleskins,
The Motions,
Donald Byrd,
Throbbing Gristle,
U.S. Maple,
Gerry Rafferty,
Sparks,
Ohio Players,
The Busters,
Inner City,
The Fall,
The American Breed,
Tom Boy,
Nas,
The Wake,
Marshall Jefferson,
Laurel Aitken,
Minutemen,
Grandmaster Flash,
MC5,
Con Funk Shun,
Man Eating Sloth,
Jeff Lynne,
The Associates,
Faraquet,
Roxette,
Nick Fraelich,
New Age Steppers,
Dorothy Ashby,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone.
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.