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 Sri Lanka and from Calgary.
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 1967 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Columbus.
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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the marimba 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 David McCallum to the grunge kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Funkadelic. All the underground hits.
All Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic 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 funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Danielle Patucci record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
MC5,
Duran Duran,
Pierre Henry,
Aloha Tigers,
Gabor Szabo,
R.M.O.,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Hasil Adkins,
Mantronix,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Groovy Waters,
The Five Americans,
DJ Sneak,
Lalann,
Avey Tare,
The Vogues,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Easy Going,
June of 44,
The Golliwogs,
Mo-Dettes,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Graham Central Station,
Byron Stingily,
ABC,
Connie Case,
The Pop Group,
The Birthday Party,
The Mummies,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Unrelated Segments,
F. McDonald,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Porter Ricks,
Tropical Tobacco,
Monolake,
Trumans Water,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Archie Shepp,
The Barracudas,
X-Ray Spex,
Depeche Mode,
Drive Like Jehu,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Sandy B,
Nik Kershaw,
Desert Stars,
Lindisfarne,
Television Personalities,
Section 25,
Kool Moe Dee,
Wally Richardson,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Boredoms,
The Martian,
Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel, Jacques Brel.
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.