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 Morocco 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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Accadde A to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Gang Green. All the underground hits.
All Black Pus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Hasil Adkins 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Drexciya record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dorothy Ashby,
Toni Rubio,
Drexciya,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
The Litter,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Grey Daturas,
Ten City,
Jeru the Damaja,
Mandrill,
Eric Dolphy,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Chris & Cosey,
Flamin' Groovies,
Gregory Isaacs,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Gun Club,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Magma,
L. Decosne,
The Index,
Donny Hathaway,
Brass Construction,
Eric Copeland,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Althea and Donna,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Television,
Wally Richardson,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Swell Maps,
Girls At Our Best!,
H. Thieme,
Bill Wells,
Fatback Band,
B.T. Express,
the Swans,
The Barracudas,
Gil Scott Heron,
Max Romeo,
Mary Jane Girls,
Ohio Players,
Lalann,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Gories,
Duran Duran,
The Cramps,
Nik Kershaw,
Deadbeat,
Slave,
Joe Smooth,
Boredoms,
Delta 5,
Glambeats Corp.,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
The Red Krayola,
The Walker Brothers,
a-ha,
Roxette,
The Saints,
Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry, Peter and Kerry.
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.