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 Lebanon and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962.
I was there at the first Guess Who show in Winnipeg.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 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 Aaron Thompson to the disco kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Patti Smith. All the underground hits.
All Electric Prunes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Todd Terry record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Golliwogs record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Moebius,
The Vogues,
Max Romeo,
Maurizio,
Absolute Body Control,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
The American Breed,
Camouflage,
Jesper Dahlback,
Aloha Tigers,
Letta Mbulu,
The Mummies,
Stiv Bators,
Funky Four + One,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Josef K,
The Buckinghams,
Tomorrow,
Index,
Rekid,
The Names,
Radio Birdman,
Peter & Gordon,
Throbbing Gristle,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Angels of Light,
Crispy Ambulance,
John Coltrane,
Prince Buster,
KRS-One,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Marshall Jefferson,
Boogie Down Productions,
Ultra Naté,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Yellowson,
The Moleskins,
In Retrospect,
Sister Nancy,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Evens,
Monks,
Eden Ahbez,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Count Five,
The Seeds,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Soul Sonic Force,
Man Parrish,
The Mighty Diamonds,
ABBA,
Buzzcocks,
R.M.O.,
Jacques Brel,
Fatback Band,
Hardrive,
Vainqueur,
the Association,
Gabor Szabo,
Hot Snakes,
Electric Light Orchestra, Electric Light Orchestra, Electric Light Orchestra, Electric Light Orchestra.
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.