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 Papua New Guinea and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Ultramagnetic MC's to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Funky Four + One. All the underground hits.
All Parry Music tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Black Sheep record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 an arpeggiator and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Barbara Tucker record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Archie Shepp,
Shoche,
Joy Division,
Saccharine Trust,
KRS-One,
EPMD,
Magma,
Peter and Kerry,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Magazine,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Real Kids,
F. McDonald,
Slave,
The Vogues,
Nirvana,
The Mighty Diamonds,
John Coltrane,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
World's Most,
Ituana,
The Offenders,
Lee Hazlewood,
Sällskapet,
The Slackers,
X-102,
Nation of Ulysses,
Audionom,
Unrelated Segments,
Soul Sonic Force,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Human League,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The United States of America,
Roxette,
The Motions,
Patti Smith,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Reuben Wilson,
The Seeds,
Little Man,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
L. Decosne,
The Black Dice,
Monks,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Skaos,
Drive Like Jehu,
Cabaret Voltaire,
E-Dancer,
Infiniti,
Accadde A,
U.S. Maple,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Nick Fraelich,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Tommy Roe,
Cal Tjader,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band.
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.