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 Antigua and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1962 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 Lou Reed 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 Piero Umiliani to the rap kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 The Angels of Light. All the underground hits.
All The Gap Band tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ornette Coleman 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Judy Mowatt record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord 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 Buckinghams,
Lower 48,
Rhythm & Sound,
The Doobie Brothers,
Dorothy Ashby,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Quadrant,
Desert Stars,
Accadde A,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Residents,
MC5,
Bill Wells,
DJ Style,
Pole,
Skaos,
Dual Sessions,
Jacques Brel,
Cecil Taylor,
Johnny Osbourne,
Alphaville,
Pet Shop Boys,
Eric Copeland,
Parry Music,
Eurythmics,
John Coltrane,
Underground Resistance,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
David Bowie,
New York Dolls,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Beau Brummels,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Grandmaster Flash,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Sällskapet,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Litter,
E-Dancer,
The Alarm Clocks,
Von Mondo,
The Wake,
Byron Stingily,
Little Man,
Royal Trux,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fela Kuti,
Deadbeat,
Loose Ends,
Barry Ungar,
X-101,
ABBA,
Lungfish,
A Certain Ratio,
ABC,
Pylon,
Terry Callier,
Brass Construction, Brass Construction, Brass Construction, Brass Construction.
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.