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 Nepal and from Copenhagen.
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 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Essential Logic to the techno kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Alarm Clocks. All the underground hits.
All JFA tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Brand Nubian 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 snare and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Pretty Things record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rufus Thomas,
Essential Logic,
James White and The Blacks,
Porter Ricks,
John Coltrane,
The Fortunes,
Khruangbin,
Yellowson,
The Misunderstood,
Duran Duran,
Avey Tare,
The Slits,
the Fania All-Stars,
The Tremeloes,
Stockholm Monsters,
Bluetip,
Eli Mardock,
Circle Jerks,
Todd Terry,
Throbbing Gristle,
Wolf Eyes,
Jandek,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Real Kids,
Sugar Minott,
Johnny Clarke,
Danielle Patucci,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Nik Kershaw,
Junior Murvin,
Godley & Creme,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Grass Roots,
Main Source,
A Certain Ratio,
Erykah Badu,
Kerri Chandler,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Rotary Connection,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Stooges,
Franke,
Public Image Ltd.,
Tears for Fears,
Flipper,
The Last Poets,
The Doors,
Aloha Tigers,
Clear Light,
Black Bananas,
Fat Boys,
The Busters,
Altered Images,
Pantytec,
Soft Machine,
The Count Five,
X-102,
Johnny Osbourne,
Nirvana,
The Invisible,
The Victims,
Sun Ra Arkestra, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sun Ra Arkestra.
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.