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 Iran and from Houston.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Lower 48 to the disco 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 Loose Ends. All the underground hits.
All Sister Nancy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Black Dice record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 an oboe and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eden Ahbez record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bobby Byrd,
Flash Fearless,
Howard Jones,
Sun Ra,
10cc,
The Neon Judgement,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Roy Ayers,
The Star Department,
ABBA,
The Moleskins,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Gastr Del Sol,
Trumans Water,
Flipper,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Rufus Thomas,
Lower 48,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The New Christs,
The Red Krayola,
Whodini,
Babytalk,
Janne Schatter,
The Real Kids,
Tubeway Army,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Nik Kershaw,
Ralphi Rosario,
Loose Ends,
Godley & Creme,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
R.M.O.,
Roxy Music,
Severed Heads,
Rakim,
The Evens,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Warren Ellis,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Toasters,
Brick,
Marc Almond,
Wings,
Roger Hodgson,
One Last Wish,
Royal Trux,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Mary Jane Girls,
Deakin,
Interpol,
Joy Division,
A Certain Ratio,
Mad Mike,
Johnny Osbourne,
Scan 7,
Banda Bassotti,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Surgeon,
D'Angelo,
The Count Five,
Amon Düül, Amon Düül, Amon Düül, Amon Düül.
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.