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 Ethiopia 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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Major Organ And The Adding Machine to the punk 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 Boredoms. All the underground hits.
All The Pop Group tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Beau Brummels record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ash Ra Tempel record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Faust,
The Pop Group,
Rufus Thomas,
June Days,
The Associates,
Hashim,
Easy Going,
X-Ray Spex,
The Electric Prunes,
Au Pairs,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Gregory Isaacs,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Traffic Nightmare,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Circle Jerks,
Cymande,
Pharoah Sanders,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Red Krayola,
Youth Brigade,
Oblivians,
The Misunderstood,
Bootsy Collins,
Lebanon Hanover,
Derrick Morgan,
New Order,
JFA,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Colin Newman,
Skaos,
Brothers Johnson,
R.M.O.,
Pantaleimon,
OOIOO,
Little Man,
Soft Cell,
Dorothy Ashby,
Pole,
Lakeside,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Swell Maps,
Neil Young,
The Skatalites,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
New Age Steppers,
Ronan,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Blues Magoos,
Organ,
Scan 7,
Yellowson,
Toni Rubio,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
DJ Sneak,
Intrusion,
Television,
LL Cool J,
Fat Boys, Fat Boys, Fat Boys, Fat Boys.
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.