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 Maldives and from Hong Kong.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Toronto 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 snare 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 Monolake to the techno kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Gap Band. All the underground hits.
All Eve St. Jones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lebanon Hanover record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Mighty Diamonds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Boz Scaggs,
The Residents,
Joe Smooth,
A Certain Ratio,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Alton Ellis,
The Zeros,
Freddie Wadling,
Girls At Our Best!,
Bob Dylan,
Kerrie Biddell,
Gabor Szabo,
Soulsonic Force,
Organ,
Anakelly,
Hot Snakes,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Erasure,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Saints,
New York Dolls,
Johnny Osbourne,
Fugazi,
The Alarm Clocks,
Fad Gadget,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Scan 7,
Skaos,
The Wake,
Hashim,
Q65,
Cecil Taylor,
K-Klass,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Drive Like Jehu,
Rosa Yemen,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Niagra,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Eli Mardock,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Stiv Bators,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Circle Jerks,
Mandrill,
Letta Mbulu,
Joe Finger,
Amon Düül II,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Monks,
Arcadia,
Pharoah Sanders,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Fuzztones,
Pussy Galore,
DJ Sneak,
Section 25,
Lou Reed,
Black Sheep, Black Sheep, Black Sheep, Black Sheep.
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.