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 Suriname and from New York.
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 1966 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Calgary.
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 arpeggiator 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 Black Moon to the techno 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 The Evens. All the underground hits.
All Gary Puckett & The Union Gap tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tom Boy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap 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 clarinet and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cymande record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Shuggie Otis,
Public Image Ltd.,
U.S. Maple,
Bauhaus,
Wasted Youth,
Quadrant,
Jawbox,
Outsiders,
Average White Band,
Ultimate Spinach,
Sun Ra,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Kas Product,
Tommy Roe,
Jeff Mills,
A Certain Ratio,
The Cowsills,
Cecil Taylor,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Pharoah Sanders,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Royal Trux,
Harpers Bizarre,
Barry Ungar,
Mantronix,
The Stooges,
Faust,
Theoretical Girls,
Ultravox,
MC5,
Nico,
Severed Heads,
Mission of Burma,
Danielle Patucci,
Sonny Sharrock,
Supertramp,
The Tremeloes,
The Skatalites,
Dual Sessions,
Unwound,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Dead Boys,
Deakin,
Gregory Isaacs,
UT,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Moss Icon,
The Dave Clark Five,
Vladislav Delay,
Schoolly D,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Colin Newman,
Harry Pussy,
Ultra Naté,
The Count Five,
The Sound,
Bush Tetras,
This Heat,
The Dirtbombs,
Mandrill,
Mary Jane Girls,
D'Angelo,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Lalo Schifrin, Lalo Schifrin, Lalo Schifrin, Lalo Schifrin.
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.