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 Mali and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 Lagos and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Tom Verlaine 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 The Doobie Brothers to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Sonics. All the underground hits.
All Steve Hackett tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Masters at Work record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mandrill record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scion,
Mr. Review,
Shuggie Otis,
Lakeside,
Bootsy Collins,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
FM Einheit,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Erykah Badu,
Severed Heads,
Eli Mardock,
MC5,
Unwound,
World's Most,
Danielle Patucci,
One Last Wish,
Pussy Galore,
Warren Ellis,
The Remains,
Parry Music,
the Normal,
Wally Richardson,
Guru Guru,
Franke,
Barclay James Harvest,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Sex Pistols,
The Sound,
Dual Sessions,
Aaron Thompson,
Minnie Riperton,
Spoonie Gee,
Ken Boothe,
The Vogues,
The Star Department,
Ten City,
Steve Hackett,
Lightning Bolt,
Michelle Simonal,
Lou Christie,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Martian,
D'Angelo,
Jeru the Damaja,
Nation of Ulysses,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Icehouse,
The Cramps,
The Dirtbombs,
Jacques Brel,
the Sonics,
Dark Day,
The Flesh Eaters,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
T.S.O.L.,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Zapp,
Faust,
Jesper Dahlback,
Theoretical Girls,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Junior Murvin, Junior Murvin, Junior Murvin, Junior Murvin.
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.