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 Botswana 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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Halifax.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 harpsichord 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 Sun Ra Arkestra to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 E-Dancer. All the underground hits.
All Tomorrow tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mantronix record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 a harpsichord and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Delta 5 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Interpol,
Erykah Badu,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The American Breed,
The Wake,
Goldenarms,
Connie Case,
Theoretical Girls,
Moebius,
Kerri Chandler,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Selecter,
Scion,
The Smiths,
Marmalade,
The Slits,
X-Ray Spex,
Groovy Waters,
The Grass Roots,
The Gap Band,
Barry Ungar,
Infiniti,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Eric B and Rakim,
Rhythm & Sound,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Rekid,
The Fortunes,
Davy DMX,
Silicon Teens,
The Count Five,
Sun City Girls,
Roy Ayers,
Sight & Sound,
Godley & Creme,
Eve St. Jones,
Von Mondo,
Neil Young,
Crooked Eye,
The Index,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Avey Tare,
Marshall Jefferson,
Andrew Hill,
A Certain Ratio,
Fugazi,
Flamin' Groovies,
Grandmaster Flash,
Minny Pops,
Neu!,
Porter Ricks,
Mark Hollis,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Aloha Tigers,
The Flesh Eaters,
The Last Poets,
Crispian St. Peters,
Mandrill,
Robert Hood,
OOIOO,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Roxette, Roxette, Roxette, Roxette.
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.