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 Croatia and from Toronto.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Nation of Ulysses to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Nas. All the underground hits.
All Pussy Galore tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Echo & the Bunnymen record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno 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 chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Japan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Boredoms,
MC5,
Minny Pops,
Howard Jones,
Hoover,
Young Marble Giants,
Neil Young,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Panda Bear,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
In Retrospect,
Roy Ayers,
The Smiths,
LL Cool J,
the Normal,
Reagan Youth,
Ultra Naté,
The Mojo Men,
Kool Moe Dee,
Patti Smith,
Yazoo,
The Blues Magoos,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Thee Headcoats,
Sonic Youth,
Eurythmics,
Sun Ra,
R.M.O.,
Black Bananas,
Bluetip,
Pet Shop Boys,
Maleditus Sound,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Rakim,
Henry Cow,
Deadbeat,
Kerrie Biddell,
Jesper Dahlback,
The American Breed,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Severed Heads,
The Human League,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
La Düsseldorf,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Mary Jane Girls,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Quando Quango,
Tubeway Army,
Scan 7,
Derrick Morgan,
Scientists,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Inner City,
Hasil Adkins,
Radiopuhelimet,
Tommy Roe,
Goldenarms,
Amazonics,
Television Personalities,
Model 500,
Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan, Delon & Dalcan.
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.