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 Tajikistan and from Cairo.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Panda Bear to the grime 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 Brothers Johnson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Slackers 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Richard Hell and the Voidoids record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Adolescents,
The Sound,
Kurtis Blow,
Yellowson,
David McCallum,
Maleditus Sound,
ABC,
The Doors,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Porter Ricks,
The Misunderstood,
Albert Ayler,
The Saints,
Barry Ungar,
Radiopuhelimet,
Gang Green,
Ice-T,
Grauzone,
World's Most,
FM Einheit,
Mr. Review,
Thompson Twins,
Marmalade,
Infiniti,
The Red Krayola,
These Immortal Souls,
Guru Guru,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Lindisfarne,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Modern Lovers,
Lower 48,
The Stooges,
Soft Machine,
Aaron Thompson,
Sun City Girls,
Pere Ubu,
Scott Walker,
Terry Callier,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Skarface,
Malaria!,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Animal Collective,
Amon Düül,
Avey Tare,
Frankie Knuckles,
Slave,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Cecil Taylor,
the Germs,
Severed Heads,
EPMD,
Hasil Adkins,
Dennis Brown,
Jerry's Kids,
Flash Fearless,
Charles Mingus,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Dave Clark Five,
Wings, Wings, Wings, Wings.
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.