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 Tonga and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 sitar 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 Guru Guru to the funk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Ice-T. All the underground hits.
All Fad Gadget tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Derrick Morgan record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 chamberlin and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sister Nancy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Whodini,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Marshall Jefferson,
Magazine,
Neu!,
JFA,
Gang of Four,
Q65,
Kaleidoscope,
Masters at Work,
Visage,
Flipper,
UT,
The Index,
KRS-One,
Arab on Radar,
Roger Hodgson,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Fear,
Brass Construction,
Godley & Creme,
Dead Boys,
Jeff Mills,
Sarah Menescal,
Y Pants,
DJ Style,
Das Ding,
Barbara Tucker,
Charles Mingus,
Nirvana,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Toni Rubio,
The Remains,
Jacob Miller,
Slick Rick,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Bobby Sherman,
Nick Fraelich,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Fela Kuti,
Guru Guru,
Nils Olav,
Liliput,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Soul Sonic Force,
Matthew Bourne,
Joe Smooth,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Cameo,
Gichy Dan,
Average White Band,
The Dead C,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Vogues,
Sight & Sound,
Slave,
David Axelrod,
Outsiders,
Stetsasonic,
Isaac Hayes,
The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines, The Fire Engines.
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.