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 Uzbekistan and from Lagos.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Bad Manners to the rock kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Bad Manners. All the underground hits.
All Eurythmics tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fela Kuti record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a World's Most record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rapeman,
Eve St. Jones,
The Count Five,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Gang Gang Dance,
Lalann,
Ken Boothe,
Chris Corsano,
The Invisible,
Soulsonic Force,
L. Decosne,
Main Source,
Grandmaster Flash,
Wolf Eyes,
Barrington Levy,
Oneida,
Black Moon,
The Smiths,
Tommy Roe,
Kas Product,
The Leaves,
Neu!,
Skriet,
Cal Tjader,
Mr. Review,
Slave,
Jesper Dahlback,
Eric Copeland,
10cc,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
One Last Wish,
Pylon,
Infiniti,
The Martian,
The Skatalites,
R.M.O.,
Bill Wells,
Henry Cow,
Ohio Players,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
June of 44,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Khruangbin,
Jerry's Kids,
the Bar-Kays,
Shoche,
Eurythmics,
The Zeros,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Motorama,
Negative Approach,
cv313,
Symarip,
JFA,
John Cale,
Gregory Isaacs,
Cymande,
The Searchers,
Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy, Livin' Joy.
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.