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 Benin and from Sao Paulo.
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 1965 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 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 Sarah Menescal to the funk 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 Busters. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every James Chance & The Contortions record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Mummies record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Avey Tare,
Cybotron,
Lee Hazlewood,
Q and Not U,
Skarface,
Byron Stingily,
Organ,
The Fugs,
John Cale,
Brick,
Eurythmics,
Flash Fearless,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Wire,
The Velvet Underground,
The Moody Blues,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Quadrant,
China Crisis,
The Dirtbombs,
Johnny Osbourne,
Minnie Riperton,
Neu!,
Derrick May,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Bauhaus,
Kevin Saunderson,
Chris Corsano,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Cecil Taylor,
Royal Trux,
Barry Ungar,
Stockholm Monsters,
Black Sheep,
Talk Talk,
Cheater Slicks,
The Litter,
Letta Mbulu,
Juan Atkins,
the Bar-Kays,
Susan Cadogan,
Vladislav Delay,
Slick Rick,
Roger Hodgson,
Bang On A Can,
The Barracudas,
Blancmange,
Whodini,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Radio Birdman,
Lou Reed,
Bobbi Humphrey,
This Heat,
Pagans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Aaron Thompson,
Rod Modell,
The Grass Roots,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan.
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.