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 Germany and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1978.
I was there at the first Visage show in London.
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 Mexico City and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 marimba 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 Spoonie Gee 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 Colin Newman. All the underground hits.
All Arthur Verocai tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ice-T 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lafayette Afro Rock Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pet Shop Boys,
Swans,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Little Man,
The Saints,
Agitation Free,
The Invisible,
Symarip,
the Normal,
Grandmaster Flash,
Nils Olav,
The Toasters,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Tropical Tobacco,
Janne Schatter,
Todd Terry,
Bang On A Can,
Niagra,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Alton Ellis,
Donny Hathaway,
Lightning Bolt,
Icehouse,
Isaac Hayes,
Easy Going,
Eve St. Jones,
Rufus Thomas,
The Standells,
DNA,
the Soft Cell,
Alphaville,
Pussy Galore,
Eurythmics,
the Swans,
Sex Pistols,
Gang Gang Dance,
Minutemen,
The Fugs,
Pharoah Sanders,
Quantec,
Skriet,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Rhythm & Sound,
Clear Light,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
F. McDonald,
Bluetip,
Sugar Minott,
The Index,
Pere Ubu,
The Fortunes,
Dawn Penn,
Gang Starr,
Joey Negro,
Yusef Lateef,
Bizarre Inc.,
Terrestrial Tones,
T.S.O.L.,
Pylon,
Susan Cadogan,
Althea and Donna,
E-Dancer,
L. Decosne,
Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover, Lebanon Hanover.
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.