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 Namibia and from Lille.
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 1961 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Arthur Verocai to the grime 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 Make Up. All the underground hits.
All The American Breed tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kevin Saunderson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a David Bowie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
X-102,
Laurel Aitken,
Sun City Girls,
Gang Green,
The J.B.'s,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
CMW,
kango's stein massive,
Crooked Eye,
Blossom Toes,
Yazoo,
David Bowie,
Isaac Hayes,
Pagans,
Graham Central Station,
Max Romeo,
Sixth Finger,
Ituana,
The Barracudas,
Tomorrow,
Brothers Johnson,
Roy Ayers,
The Mummies,
Negative Approach,
Aswad,
Glambeats Corp.,
Loose Ends,
New Age Steppers,
Pet Shop Boys,
Curtis Mayfield,
Big Daddy Kane,
The Trojans,
The Evens,
The Tremeloes,
Marine Girls,
Dual Sessions,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Fugs,
Electric Prunes,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Flipper,
Magma,
Soft Cell,
Chris Corsano,
Hardrive,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Judy Mowatt,
Skarface,
Iggy Pop,
The Sound,
Albert Ayler,
Cybotron,
Blake Baxter,
Monolake,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
The Misunderstood,
Grandmaster Flash,
Warren Ellis,
Gerry Rafferty,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor.
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.