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 Norway and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 Lagos and Philadelphia.
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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Connie Case to the disco 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 Motorama. All the underground hits.
All Black Pus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Section 25 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Black Dice record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Scott Walker,
Gil Scott Heron,
Rhythm & Sound,
Magazine,
Iggy Pop,
Das Ding,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Names,
Tommy Roe,
The Misunderstood,
Stereo Dub,
Camberwell Now,
The Pop Group,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Stiv Bators,
Wire,
The Fall,
Siglo XX,
Funkadelic,
Babytalk,
Moebius,
Kaleidoscope,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Popol Vuh,
OOIOO,
Judy Mowatt,
Flash Fearless,
Max Romeo,
Traffic Nightmare,
Wally Richardson,
Yaz,
Idris Muhammad,
Minnie Riperton,
David Axelrod,
Television,
Throbbing Gristle,
David Bowie,
Kool Moe Dee,
Television Personalities,
Susan Cadogan,
Cymande,
Drive Like Jehu,
Kerrie Biddell,
Eli Mardock,
Depeche Mode,
Eurythmics,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Zapp,
Rosa Yemen,
Trumans Water,
Smog,
Livin' Joy,
Rapeman,
Toni Rubio,
The Neon Judgement,
Angry Samoans,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Aural Exciters,
Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops, Minny Pops.
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.