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 Samoa and from Copenhagen.
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 1966 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 at the first Suicide practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Fela Kuti to the crunk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 X-Ray Spex. All the underground hits.
All Faraquet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Angels of Light & Akron/Family record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 808 and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Blake Baxter record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ice-T,
Reuben Wilson,
The Fortunes,
The Names,
Sound Behaviour,
Con Funk Shun,
Minnie Riperton,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
LL Cool J,
Ronan,
Shuggie Otis,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Slick Rick,
Camouflage,
48th St. Collective,
Suburban Knight,
Visage,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Beau Brummels,
Black Bananas,
Peter & Gordon,
The Residents,
Robert Hood,
The Cowsills,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Rites of Spring,
Panda Bear,
Scrapy,
Royal Trux,
Ken Boothe,
Bill Wells,
Fluxion,
Brand Nubian,
Basic Channel,
The Searchers,
The Index,
John Holt,
Sarah Menescal,
Theoretical Girls,
Bobby Byrd,
The Invisible,
The Real Kids,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Donny Hathaway,
Swell Maps,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Moby Grape,
The Move,
Make Up,
Jeff Mills,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Albert Ayler,
Ralphi Rosario,
Nik Kershaw,
Kerrie Biddell,
Wasted Youth,
Joe Smooth,
Archie Shepp,
Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson, Wally Richardson.
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.