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 Cuba and from Manchester.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1960 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 harpsichord sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Qualms to the grime 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 Aswad. All the underground hits.
All Ornette Coleman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amon Düül II 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Aloha Tigers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Saints,
Bill Wells,
Magazine,
Monks,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Swans,
Q65,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Bootsy Collins,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Guru Guru,
The Cramps,
The Velvet Underground,
Young Marble Giants,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Mission of Burma,
Henry Cow,
Zapp,
Soul II Soul,
MC5,
Wire,
Davy DMX,
Sexual Harrassment,
Nas,
The Litter,
Mantronix,
Warsaw,
Heaven 17,
Mark Hollis,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
the Normal,
Amon Düül II,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Roxy Music,
Agitation Free,
10cc,
Ohio Players,
Audionom,
Rakim,
Kas Product,
the Slits,
Arthur Verocai,
Ten City,
DJ Sneak,
June Days,
Electric Prunes,
Banda Bassotti,
John Lydon,
The Doors,
Trumans Water,
The Move,
The Pop Group,
Fugazi,
Connie Case,
DJ Style,
Sister Nancy,
Jeff Lynne,
The Modern Lovers,
Groovy Waters,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Stooges,
Gang Green,
The Associates,
Erasure,
Crime, Crime, Crime, Crime.
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.