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 Kazakhstan and from Lagos.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Lille.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 rhodes 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 The Slits to the funk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Dirtbombs. All the underground hits.
All Roxy Music tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bluetip record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Make Up record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric B and Rakim,
Dark Day,
Yellowson,
Monks,
Althea and Donna,
The Martian,
The Shadows of Knight,
Ultimate Spinach,
Harpers Bizarre,
Mark Hollis,
Peter and Kerry,
Scion,
Sonny Sharrock,
Crash Course in Science,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Graham Central Station,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Liliput,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
These Immortal Souls,
The Litter,
Black Bananas,
X-101,
The Searchers,
Schoolly D,
Kaleidoscope,
Visage,
Chris & Cosey,
Con Funk Shun,
Moss Icon,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Guru Guru,
Joe Finger,
D'Angelo,
Prince Buster,
Jandek,
Ronnie Foster,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Arab on Radar,
Gabor Szabo,
Camouflage,
The Move,
Judy Mowatt,
Erykah Badu,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Joensuu 1685,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Seeds,
Mantronix,
The Doobie Brothers,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
UT,
The Angels of Light,
Qualms,
Tres Demented,
Pole,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Anthony Braxton,
Rakim,
Al Stewart,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Absolute Body Control,
Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia, Arcadia.
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.