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 Mexico and from Paris.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Sao Paulo.
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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Derrick Morgan to the grime 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 Marcia Griffiths. All the underground hits.
All The Gladiators tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Beau Brummels record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a David McCallum record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Grey Daturas,
Scientists,
Can,
T. Rex,
Unrelated Segments,
Rufus Thomas,
Erasure,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Real Kids,
The Flesh Eaters,
D'Angelo,
The Cramps,
Todd Rundgren,
10cc,
Pharoah Sanders,
Niagra,
Cheater Slicks,
H. Thieme,
The Modern Lovers,
Groovy Waters,
Trumans Water,
Byron Stingily,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Count Five,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
New York Dolls,
Radiohead,
Roger Hodgson,
Drexciya,
Wolf Eyes,
John Foxx,
Ponytail,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Yaz,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Moebius,
Matthew Bourne,
Lakeside,
Arab on Radar,
Dark Day,
Eric Dolphy,
The Happenings,
The Names,
Jesper Dahlback,
Youth Brigade,
The Mojo Men,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Raincoats,
The Offenders,
Marine Girls,
Joe Smooth,
Quadrant,
The Martian,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Gap Band,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Bobby Byrd,
Ronan,
Reuben Wilson,
FM Einheit,
The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Chocolate Watch Band.
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.