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 Laos and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Throbbing Gristle show in London.
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 Shanghai and Toronto.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the oboe 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 Terror Squad Feat. Camron to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Cecil Taylor. All the underground hits.
All The Red Krayola tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Young Rascals record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 chamberlin and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a 10cc record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Five Americans,
Alton Ellis,
Camberwell Now,
Faraquet,
the Fania All-Stars,
Symarip,
Jawbox,
One Last Wish,
Barry Ungar,
Eurythmics,
Dead Boys,
The Remains,
Andrew Hill,
Marvin Gaye,
LL Cool J,
Scientists,
Deepchord,
Alphaville,
cv313,
Tomorrow,
DJ Sneak,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Selecter,
Soul Sonic Force,
Kaleidoscope,
Rhythm & Sound,
Bush Tetras,
Soft Machine,
Funkadelic,
Unrelated Segments,
The Victims,
David Bowie,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Black Sheep,
The Vogues,
Wally Richardson,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
James White and The Blacks,
The Fortunes,
The Dave Clark Five,
The Move,
Alison Limerick,
Ralphi Rosario,
Derrick May,
Idris Muhammad,
Sly & The Family Stone,
E-Dancer,
Scrapy,
Popol Vuh,
Marmalade,
Blancmange,
Thee Headcoats,
the Swans,
Joe Smooth,
New York Dolls,
La Düsseldorf,
8 Eyed Spy,
Don Cherry,
Glambeats Corp.,
Can,
Graham Central Station,
Cal Tjader,
The Martian, The Martian, The Martian, The Martian.
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.