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 Saudi Arabia and from Houston.
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 1961 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 organ 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 Archie Shepp to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Carl Craig. All the underground hits.
All New Order tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Mighty Diamonds record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kevin Saunderson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Popol Vuh,
Rosa Yemen,
New York Dolls,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Harmonia,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Bauhaus,
Radio Birdman,
Lyres,
Sun City Girls,
Roxy Music,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Television Personalities,
Simply Red,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
ABC,
The Wake,
Michelle Simonal,
The Victims,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Kenny Larkin,
Bad Manners,
The Selecter,
Lucky Dragons,
Lalann,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Residents,
Crime,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Flash Fearless,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Quantec,
The Walker Brothers,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Traffic Nightmare,
Danielle Patucci,
Essential Logic,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Au Pairs,
The Dave Clark Five,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Gang Starr,
Vainqueur,
Jacques Brel,
The Misunderstood,
The Sonics,
Rotary Connection,
World's Most,
Carl Craig,
Excepter,
Eve St. Jones,
The Associates,
Althea and Donna,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Crispian St. Peters,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Rapeman,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Malaria!,
Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four, Gang of Four.
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.