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 Laos and from Calgary.
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 1965 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 Lou Reed 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 Fugazi to the rap 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 Ponytail. All the underground hits.
All Fluxion tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every E-Dancer 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Das Ding record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gong,
Josef K,
Rotary Connection,
Wolf Eyes,
Alice Coltrane,
Stiv Bators,
Camberwell Now,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The American Breed,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Selecter,
the Sonics,
EPMD,
The Zeros,
Brass Construction,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Blossom Toes,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Black Pus,
Bill Wells,
Magazine,
Warren Ellis,
Nirvana,
Suicide,
Kas Product,
Bauhaus,
Black Flag,
June of 44,
The Seeds,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bob Dylan,
Jesper Dahlback,
Swans,
Intrusion,
The Birthday Party,
Suburban Knight,
Minor Threat,
Second Layer,
Fugazi,
The Residents,
Lakeside,
The Modern Lovers,
Faraquet,
Japan,
Crispian St. Peters,
Derrick May,
Frankie Knuckles,
Johnny Osbourne,
Eurythmics,
Agitation Free,
The Monks,
Judy Mowatt,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Girls At Our Best!,
Brick,
Tomorrow,
MDC,
Albert Ayler,
Liliput,
Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu, Pere Ubu.
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.