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 Poland and from Lagos.
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 1967 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Bronski Beat to the disco kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Flamin' Groovies. All the underground hits.
All Adolescents tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Symarip 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 '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 Rufus Thomas record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Germs,
Bill Wells,
Tropical Tobacco,
Bob Dylan,
Susan Cadogan,
Ludus,
Boogie Down Productions,
Sparks,
the Swans,
Lungfish,
Morten Harket,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Cluster,
Kerri Chandler,
Hashim,
Blancmange,
Wally Richardson,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Prince Buster,
Dawn Penn,
Black Moon,
Cybotron,
F. McDonald,
Anakelly,
Lightning Bolt,
Dorothy Ashby,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
D'Angelo,
Scientists,
Television Personalities,
The Monks,
Sugar Minott,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Sisters of Mercy,
10cc,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
World's Most,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Brass Construction,
Inner City,
Bill Near,
Little Man,
Accadde A,
The Shadows of Knight,
Underground Resistance,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Barbara Tucker,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Gichy Dan,
Sun City Girls,
Wire,
the Soft Cell,
Marmalade,
The Invisible,
One Last Wish,
Cal Tjader,
Sandy B,
The Cosmic Jokers,
New Order,
The Victims,
New York Dolls, New York Dolls, New York Dolls, New York Dolls.
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.