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 Philadelphia.
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 1963 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Ludus to the rock kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Boredoms. All the underground hits.
All Arthur Verocai tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every the Bar-Kays 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 sitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barry Ungar record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Monochrome Set,
The Walker Brothers,
The Gladiators,
Toni Rubio,
Don Cherry,
X-Ray Spex,
The Martian,
Jimmy McGriff,
La Düsseldorf,
Soul Sonic Force,
Eric Dolphy,
kango's stein massive,
Panda Bear,
Bauhaus,
Donny Hathaway,
Au Pairs,
The Velvet Underground,
Ralphi Rosario,
Silicon Teens,
KRS-One,
Fatback Band,
Nils Olav,
The Pretty Things,
David McCallum,
The Doors,
Lucky Dragons,
David Bowie,
Metal Thangz,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Standells,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
The Gap Band,
Subhumans,
Morten Harket,
the Germs,
In Retrospect,
Soft Machine,
Byron Stingily,
Liliput,
Los Fastidios,
Scientists,
Nation of Ulysses,
Duran Duran,
Funkadelic,
Cameo,
Magazine,
Kaleidoscope,
Kayak,
Wire,
Niagra,
Grey Daturas,
Andrew Hill,
MDC,
Robert Görl,
Underground Resistance,
Bush Tetras,
Fat Boys,
Symarip,
June Days,
Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag, Black Flag.
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.