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 Tanzania and from Paris.
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 1966 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 clarinet 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 Ronnie Foster to the dance 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 American Breed. All the underground hits.
All The Neon Judgement tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The J.B.'s 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Fatback Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Grey Daturas,
Alphaville,
Wasted Youth,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Neon Judgement,
Ponytail,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Sparks,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Lou Reed,
La Düsseldorf,
Section 25,
New York Dolls,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Cramps,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Andrew Hill,
Soul Sonic Force,
the Normal,
Chris Corsano,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Can,
Lakeside,
Fat Boys,
Second Layer,
The Birthday Party,
Mandrill,
Youth Brigade,
Lalann,
The Last Poets,
Smog,
Isaac Hayes,
The Count Five,
The Raincoats,
Swell Maps,
Connie Case,
Ludus,
Hashim,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Gong,
Eric Copeland,
Kas Product,
Massinfluence,
Kevin Saunderson,
Minutemen,
Gang Green,
Pere Ubu,
The Index,
DJ Sneak,
Faust,
Malaria!,
New Age Steppers,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Kaleidoscope,
Lee Hazlewood,
Junior Murvin,
the Soft Cell,
Moss Icon,
EPMD,
Sugar Minott,
Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach.
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.