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 Bolivia and from Bologna.
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 1963 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Manila.
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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the oboe 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 Monolake to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Television Personalities. All the underground hits.
All Brand Nubian tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Harry Pussy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk 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 sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Goldenarms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
World's Most,
the Germs,
Black Flag,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Rakim,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Public Enemy,
Ken Boothe,
Los Fastidios,
Lou Reed,
Eric B and Rakim,
Angry Samoans,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Masters at Work,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Eric Copeland,
Yellowson,
Main Source,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Nirvana,
Lou Christie,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Groovy Waters,
Severed Heads,
Talk Talk,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Deadbeat,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Shuggie Otis,
The Toasters,
Ludus,
Rekid,
Mr. Review,
Kaleidoscope,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
The United States of America,
Ultimate Spinach,
Delon & Dalcan,
Can,
Duran Duran,
T.S.O.L.,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Brick,
Chris Corsano,
Eden Ahbez,
Andrew Hill,
Wasted Youth,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Donald Byrd,
Supertramp,
Kas Product,
Model 500,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Offenders,
Fear,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Gregory Isaacs,
New Age Steppers,
Oneida, Oneida, Oneida, Oneida.
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.