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 Ireland and from Portland.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 Robert Palmer 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 Stetsasonic to the electroclash kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 The Skatalites. All the underground hits.
All Young Marble Giants tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Procol Harum record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 theremin and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
The Grass Roots,
The Tremeloes,
Kerri Chandler,
The Doors,
Urselle,
Donald Byrd,
K-Klass,
Sonny Sharrock,
Aloha Tigers,
Deadbeat,
Swans,
Minny Pops,
Sex Pistols,
Oblivians,
Nation of Ulysses,
MC5,
ABBA,
Archie Shepp,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
MDC,
Animal Collective,
Harry Pussy,
Al Stewart,
X-102,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Skaos,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Black Flag,
Bizarre Inc.,
kango's stein massive,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Red Krayola,
Neu!,
FM Einheit,
Marine Girls,
Television,
The Real Kids,
Robert Hood,
Pantytec,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Underground Resistance,
One Last Wish,
Lower 48,
Gang of Four,
U.S. Maple,
Kurtis Blow,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Gun Club,
Matthew Bourne,
Jandek,
Black Bananas,
Ohio Players,
Don Cherry,
Trumans Water,
Camouflage,
Ludus,
Joyce Sims,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The United States of America,
Circle Jerks,
The Beau Brummels, The Beau Brummels, The Beau Brummels, The Beau Brummels.
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.