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 Liberia and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Paris 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 guitar 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 Nico to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Joe Smooth. All the underground hits.
All Anthony Braxton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Red Krayola record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ronnie Foster,
The Fortunes,
The Toasters,
X-102,
Swell Maps,
Deakin,
Au Pairs,
Deepchord,
Barclay James Harvest,
Gang of Four,
The Invisible,
Black Moon,
ABBA,
The Velvet Underground,
Glenn Branca,
Mission of Burma,
Joy Division,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Laurel Aitken,
Bang On A Can,
Banda Bassotti,
Tomorrow,
The Doobie Brothers,
Sugar Minott,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Robert Görl,
The Standells,
Jeff Lynne,
Mark Hollis,
KRS-One,
Lou Christie,
B.T. Express,
Michelle Simonal,
The Cure,
Soft Cell,
Marine Girls,
Loose Ends,
Second Layer,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Chris & Cosey,
Smog,
The Smiths,
Mars,
James White and The Blacks,
Fad Gadget,
Eric Copeland,
Sonny Sharrock,
8 Eyed Spy,
Black Pus,
The Searchers,
Mantronix,
One Last Wish,
Flipper,
The Kinks,
Make Up,
The Monochrome Set,
Minnie Riperton,
Eli Mardock,
Easy Going,
Toni Rubio,
The Buckinghams,
Kerri Chandler,
A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio, A Certain Ratio.
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.