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 Taiwan and from Spokane.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Shanghai.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the rhodes 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 Derrick May to the rock 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 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx. All the underground hits.
All Absolute Body Control tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Marcia Griffiths record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Althea and Donna record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gong,
Toni Rubio,
Saccharine Trust,
the Slits,
Sarah Menescal,
The Young Rascals,
Derrick Morgan,
Jerry's Kids,
KRS-One,
Surgeon,
Prince Buster,
Drive Like Jehu,
Matthew Bourne,
The Blues Magoos,
The Star Department,
the Germs,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Moss Icon,
Max Romeo,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Eurythmics,
Model 500,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Letta Mbulu,
Alphaville,
The Mummies,
The Fire Engines,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
John Foxx,
Darondo,
Lakeside,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Kurtis Blow,
The Alarm Clocks,
David McCallum,
Sixth Finger,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Oneida,
Fugazi,
Eric Dolphy,
The Moleskins,
Average White Band,
The Associates,
The Saints,
Second Layer,
Shoche,
Arab on Radar,
Man Eating Sloth,
Bad Manners,
Joy Division,
Banda Bassotti,
Unwound,
Gang Starr,
The Real Kids,
Leonard Cohen,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Heaven 17,
Juan Atkins,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Hot Snakes,
Soft Machine,
Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja.
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.