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 Armenia and from Stockholm.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Winnipeg and Woodstock.
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 synthesizer 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 Groovy Waters to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 World's Most. All the underground hits.
All Surgeon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tomorrow 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The J.B.'s record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pet Shop Boys,
Terry Callier,
Archie Shepp,
Arcadia,
Deakin,
Von Mondo,
Eric Copeland,
Boz Scaggs,
Mad Mike,
Minutemen,
the Sonics,
The United States of America,
UT,
John Cale,
The Kinks,
DJ Style,
Bobby Womack,
Hot Snakes,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Soul Sonic Force,
Bronski Beat,
Jesper Dahlback,
Circle Jerks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
DNA,
Jacques Brel,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Steve Hackett,
Zapp,
Ice-T,
Aaron Thompson,
Schoolly D,
Cymande,
The Dead C,
The Cure,
Terrestrial Tones,
Quadrant,
Dennis Brown,
Anakelly,
James White and The Blacks,
Roger Hodgson,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Unrelated Segments,
Qualms,
Amazonics,
Talk Talk,
Electric Prunes,
The Move,
The Real Kids,
Kool Moe Dee,
Suburban Knight,
The Shadows of Knight,
Eddi Front,
Kevin Saunderson,
Derrick May,
Patti Smith,
Accadde A,
Drive Like Jehu,
Bad Manners, Bad Manners, Bad Manners, Bad Manners.
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.