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 Korea North and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Sonny Sharrock to the funk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Q and Not U. All the underground hits.
All Main Source tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Shoche record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 snare and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eric B and Rakim record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Litter,
Ronan,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Motorama,
Barry Ungar,
Second Layer,
Von Mondo,
Absolute Body Control,
Lee Hazlewood,
Traffic Nightmare,
Masters at Work,
Gregory Isaacs,
the Swans,
The Angels of Light,
Oblivians,
Qualms,
Silicon Teens,
Ralphi Rosario,
Shoche,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
John Cale,
ABBA,
Sex Pistols,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Sonny Sharrock,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Ornette Coleman,
Adolescents,
The Slits,
Suicide,
Icehouse,
Stiv Bators,
Das Ding,
Rites of Spring,
Sister Nancy,
The Saints,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Niagra,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Prince Buster,
The Busters,
Crispian St. Peters,
Robert Hood,
PIL,
Outsiders,
Alphaville,
Scan 7,
Shuggie Otis,
Nas,
Harmonia,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Golliwogs,
The Real Kids,
China Crisis,
Neil Young,
Dual Sessions,
Janne Schatter,
Drexciya,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The American Breed,
Soft Machine,
Avey Tare, Avey Tare, Avey Tare, Avey Tare.
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.