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 Sudan and from Paris.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Alton Ellis to the funk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Kool Moe Dee. All the underground hits.
All Von Mondo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nation of Ulysses record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bootsy Collins record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Youth Brigade,
Bronski Beat,
Bobby Byrd,
Negative Approach,
John Cale,
The Gories,
Underground Resistance,
Yazoo,
Matthew Halsall,
Franke,
Marshall Jefferson,
Y Pants,
Howard Jones,
Mark Hollis,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Au Pairs,
Visage,
The Monks,
The Move,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
U.S. Maple,
UT,
JFA,
Crash Course in Science,
Flipper,
Roxy Music,
Dual Sessions,
Jeru the Damaja,
Mandrill,
The Index,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Jerry's Kids,
Sonny Sharrock,
Michelle Simonal,
Cheater Slicks,
the Association,
Urselle,
Bobby Sherman,
Pussy Galore,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
L. Decosne,
DJ Style,
Lou Christie,
Ituana,
Goldenarms,
Sun City Girls,
These Immortal Souls,
Eve St. Jones,
Donald Byrd,
Bush Tetras,
Bluetip,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Livin' Joy,
Henry Cow,
Graham Central Station,
Lindisfarne,
The Black Dice,
Scientists,
Groovy Waters,
the Human League,
The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics.
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.