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 Gabon and from Johannesburg.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Minny Pops to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Bush Tetras. All the underground hits.
All Sun Ra Arkestra tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 güiro and a guitar 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 linndrum and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Letta Mbulu,
Masters at Work,
Livin' Joy,
The Evens,
Stetsasonic,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Lakeside,
Wolf Eyes,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Kaleidoscope,
Donny Hathaway,
The Cure,
FM Einheit,
Judy Mowatt,
Yaz,
June of 44,
Malaria!,
a-ha,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Star Department,
The Associates,
Suburban Knight,
Cluster,
Warren Ellis,
Section 25,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Wings,
New York Dolls,
Sight & Sound,
Newcleus,
The Standells,
Barrington Levy,
Public Image Ltd.,
Niagra,
The Doors,
Arab on Radar,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Main Source,
Matthew Halsall,
The Fuzztones,
The Wake,
Sexual Harrassment,
Wally Richardson,
Rod Modell,
The Happenings,
Fatback Band,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Television,
Ken Boothe,
Pierre Henry,
Boz Scaggs,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Grauzone,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Fire Engines,
Maurizio,
the Fania All-Stars,
Average White Band,
Monks,
Crash Course in Science,
Rakim, Rakim, Rakim, Rakim.
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.