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 Fiji and from Delhi.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Toronto and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Hashim to the rap kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 La Düsseldorf. All the underground hits.
All Kaleidoscope tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Peanut Butter Conspiracy 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ituana record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tears for Fears,
Carl Craig,
Inner City,
Roy Ayers,
Minutemen,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Country Teasers,
The Barracudas,
Trumans Water,
Ken Boothe,
Jacob Miller,
Rakim,
Danielle Patucci,
Barbara Tucker,
Alphaville,
Circle Jerks,
FM Einheit,
Bauhaus,
Cheater Slicks,
the Association,
Au Pairs,
Oneida,
a-ha,
Charles Mingus,
The Saints,
Niagra,
Adolescents,
The Selecter,
Eric Copeland,
Flipper,
The Seeds,
The Pop Group,
Ponytail,
The Standells,
Minnie Riperton,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Mary Jane Girls,
Kaleidoscope,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Doors,
Rufus Thomas,
Groovy Waters,
Nils Olav,
In Retrospect,
Henry Cow,
Scion,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Schoolly D,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Angry Samoans,
Cecil Taylor,
Yazoo,
Talk Talk,
Ultravox,
Public Image Ltd.,
Bobby Byrd,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Brand Nubian,
The Litter,
Terry Callier,
Blancmange, Blancmange, Blancmange, Blancmange.
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.