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 Peru and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Columbus.
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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Chocolate Watch Band to the grime 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 Pulsallama. All the underground hits.
All the Association tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every AZ record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Durutti Column record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Motions,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Walker Brothers,
ABBA,
Lyres,
Dawn Penn,
Rites of Spring,
Rosa Yemen,
The Busters,
Dual Sessions,
The Move,
John Cale,
Carl Craig,
Neil Young,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Isaac Hayes,
Vladislav Delay,
Scrapy,
Joensuu 1685,
Minor Threat,
Model 500,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Anakelly,
Lucky Dragons,
Pierre Henry,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Gang Gang Dance,
Moss Icon,
Gang of Four,
Ornette Coleman,
Traffic Nightmare,
a-ha,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
John Coltrane,
The Selecter,
Erykah Badu,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Angry Samoans,
Al Stewart,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
the Slits,
Grey Daturas,
Outsiders,
Masters at Work,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Cure,
Deadbeat,
Trumans Water,
Groovy Waters,
The Young Rascals,
Sparks,
FM Einheit,
The Vogues,
Funkadelic,
David Bowie,
The Searchers,
Michelle Simonal,
Deepchord,
Monks,
Ken Boothe,
Technova, Technova, Technova, Technova.
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.