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 Belize and from Madrid.
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 1965 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 theremin 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 Rakim to the rock 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 Soft Machine. All the underground hits.
All Lebanon Hanover tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Porter Ricks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a New York Dolls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
D'Angelo,
Groovy Waters,
Glenn Branca,
The Flesh Eaters,
Boredoms,
Iggy Pop,
Motorama,
Arab on Radar,
Max Romeo,
The Skatalites,
Mark Hollis,
The Dirtbombs,
Jeff Lynne,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Deepchord,
Mission of Burma,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Absolute Body Control,
Letta Mbulu,
Cameo,
Junior Murvin,
Masters at Work,
the Soft Cell,
Royal Trux,
Echospace,
Shuggie Otis,
Sun City Girls,
Nas,
Fear,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
X-Ray Spex,
Barclay James Harvest,
Basic Channel,
CMW,
Alice Coltrane,
The New Christs,
Susan Cadogan,
Ronnie Foster,
The Beau Brummels,
Wolf Eyes,
the Slits,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Rosa Yemen,
Lalann,
Agent Orange,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Moody Blues,
Cal Tjader,
Radio Birdman,
Scion,
The Gun Club,
Q and Not U,
Thompson Twins,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Neil Young,
Amon Düül II,
Fad Gadget,
The Misunderstood,
Prince Buster,
Faust,
Slave, Slave, Slave, Slave.
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.