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 Malaysia and from Beijing.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille 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 guitar 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 The Sonics 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 Mad Mike. All the underground hits.
All China Crisis tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Hill record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lungfish record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Happenings,
The Buckinghams,
Depeche Mode,
The Real Kids,
The Standells,
John Holt,
Fela Kuti,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Fugs,
Isaac Hayes,
Jeff Lynne,
The Grass Roots,
Cymande,
Barclay James Harvest,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Television,
Maleditus Sound,
Vainqueur,
AZ,
Sound Behaviour,
Mandrill,
Davy DMX,
Desert Stars,
Radiopuhelimet,
Sunsets and Hearts,
R.M.O.,
ABC,
The Smoke,
The Cramps,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Traffic Nightmare,
MDC,
Blancmange,
This Heat,
Harmonia,
Big Daddy Kane,
Nico,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
World's Most,
The Last Poets,
Bang On A Can,
Shoche,
Tim Buckley,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Archie Shepp,
Nik Kershaw,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Danielle Patucci,
June Days,
Zero Boys,
Guru Guru,
Con Funk Shun,
The Trojans,
Erasure,
the Fania All-Stars,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control, Absolute Body Control.
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.