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 India and from Portland.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Robert Görl to the funk 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 Public Enemy. All the underground hits.
All Gary Puckett & The Union Gap tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Divine Comedy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joe Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Stetsasonic,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
The Gladiators,
Ken Boothe,
Skaos,
The Tremeloes,
K-Klass,
Icehouse,
EPMD,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The New Christs,
Chris Corsano,
Deadbeat,
Make Up,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Sly & The Family Stone,
One Last Wish,
Hardrive,
John Cale,
Danielle Patucci,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Mandrill,
Dave Gahan,
The Cure,
Absolute Body Control,
Hoover,
The Knickerbockers,
Los Fastidios,
Marine Girls,
Cheater Slicks,
JFA,
Gong,
Ohio Players,
Junior Murvin,
The Mojo Men,
Cecil Taylor,
Matthew Halsall,
Godley & Creme,
The Durutti Column,
Jeff Mills,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Joey Negro,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Blackbyrds,
Moss Icon,
Scrapy,
The Misunderstood,
Rod Modell,
Andrew Hill,
The Saints,
The American Breed,
Morten Harket,
Lindisfarne,
Soft Cell,
New Age Steppers,
The Five Americans,
Don Cherry,
Can,
The Slits, The Slits, The Slits, The Slits.
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.