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 Albania and from Toronto.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 James Chance & The Contortions to the disco kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Guru Guru. All the underground hits.
All Q and Not U tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bill Wells record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Justin Hinds & The Dominoes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bobby Womack,
Bootsy Collins,
Jeru the Damaja,
The Birthday Party,
Brick,
Joensuu 1685,
Porter Ricks,
Soft Machine,
The American Breed,
The Dave Clark Five,
Amon Düül,
Bizarre Inc.,
Curtis Mayfield,
Suburban Knight,
Ronnie Foster,
Godley & Creme,
K-Klass,
Lungfish,
Derrick May,
Erasure,
Chris Corsano,
T. Rex,
Junior Murvin,
The Trojans,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Joe Finger,
Steve Hackett,
Radio Birdman,
Basic Channel,
The Human League,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Throbbing Gristle,
Tres Demented,
Don Cherry,
Boredoms,
Stockholm Monsters,
Toni Rubio,
The Barracudas,
CMW,
One Last Wish,
The Moleskins,
Donny Hathaway,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Nas,
Leonard Cohen,
Sight & Sound,
Aural Exciters,
Black Flag,
The Victims,
Guru Guru,
Sparks,
DJ Sneak,
The Evens,
Main Source,
The Dead C,
Heaven 17,
the Normal,
Ornette Coleman,
Max Romeo,
Sarah Menescal,
Gang Gang Dance, Gang Gang Dance, Gang Gang Dance, Gang Gang Dance.
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.