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 India and from Cairo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1968 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 808 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 Ituana to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Ken Boothe. All the underground hits.
All Gabor Szabo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Eric B and Rakim 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
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 Toni Rubio record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sandy B,
Shoche,
Sun Ra,
Joey Negro,
Mary Jane Girls,
Make Up,
The Searchers,
Pierre Henry,
The Dave Clark Five,
Joy Division,
Quando Quango,
Donny Hathaway,
Piero Umiliani,
Man Eating Sloth,
Archie Shepp,
Marvin Gaye,
The Invisible,
Grandmaster Flash,
Wings,
Morten Harket,
Deakin,
The Names,
Jeru the Damaja,
Stockholm Monsters,
Kerri Chandler,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Easy Going,
Swans,
Scientists,
The Slackers,
Yaz,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Jimmy McGriff,
Curtis Mayfield,
Talk Talk,
Ludus,
David McCallum,
Gang Gang Dance,
Toni Rubio,
EPMD,
Shuggie Otis,
David Bowie,
The Tremeloes,
Eric Copeland,
Excepter,
Terrestrial Tones,
The Slits,
Jacques Brel,
Chris & Cosey,
Bill Wells,
Desert Stars,
Lalo Schifrin,
Rekid,
Lebanon Hanover,
Joyce Sims,
Rufus Thomas,
Joe Finger,
Todd Rundgren,
Pagans,
Joensuu 1685,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside.
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.