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 Dominica and from Madrid.
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 1964 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 linndrum 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 Ornette Coleman to the disco 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 The Last Poets. All the underground hits.
All Siglo XX tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Knickerbockers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fifty Foot Hose record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Searchers,
The Sound,
Alton Ellis,
Massinfluence,
Cheater Slicks,
Johnny Clarke,
Skaos,
Mark Hollis,
Albert Ayler,
The Monks,
Nick Fraelich,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Blues Magoos,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Alice Coltrane,
Ice-T,
Bizarre Inc.,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Althea and Donna,
Sun City Girls,
Arthur Verocai,
Don Cherry,
Rosa Yemen,
Oneida,
Ralphi Rosario,
the Slits,
DNA,
Barbara Tucker,
Janne Schatter,
Skarface,
Faraquet,
Black Moon,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Radiohead,
Sixth Finger,
John Cale,
Pharoah Sanders,
Minny Pops,
The Detroit Cobras,
Idris Muhammad,
Swans,
Soul Sonic Force,
T. Rex,
UT,
Dave Gahan,
Young Marble Giants,
Mad Mike,
the Germs,
Rod Modell,
Zapp,
The Birthday Party,
Camberwell Now,
The Smiths,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
The Remains,
New York Dolls,
The Golliwogs,
Fugazi,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
ABBA,
Negative Approach,
Basic Channel,
Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band.
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.