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 Nicaragua and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1969 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 snare 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 Circle Jerks to the funk 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 Soul II Soul. All the underground hits.
All Flamin' Groovies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Tropical Tobacco 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a David Bowie record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Yusef Lateef,
The Red Krayola,
Crispian St. Peters,
Public Enemy,
John Cale,
Basic Channel,
Matthew Bourne,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Bush Tetras,
The Shadows of Knight,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
The Real Kids,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Leaves,
Boz Scaggs,
Minnie Riperton,
Flash Fearless,
One Last Wish,
Lalo Schifrin,
D'Angelo,
Reuben Wilson,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
the Bar-Kays,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
The Standells,
Theoretical Girls,
Little Man,
Malaria!,
Mary Jane Girls,
FM Einheit,
Agent Orange,
Terry Callier,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Altered Images,
Zapp,
Rod Modell,
Drive Like Jehu,
The Saints,
Depeche Mode,
Harry Pussy,
Dark Day,
H. Thieme,
The Grass Roots,
Swell Maps,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Lightning Bolt,
Byron Stingily,
Model 500,
Second Layer,
The Stooges,
Marcia Griffiths,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Jawbox,
Lindisfarne,
Flamin' Groovies,
MC5,
Buzzcocks,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Birthday Party,
John Lydon,
Barbara Tucker,
X-102,
Jacques Brel,
Neil Young,
Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach, Ultimate Spinach.
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.