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 El Salvador and from Manila.
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 1968 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 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 Excepter to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Erykah Badu. All the underground hits.
All Terror Squad Feat. Camron tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Associates record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 spring reverb and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Moody Blues record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Joey Negro,
Jacques Brel,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Lindisfarne,
The Last Poets,
Hardrive,
The Monks,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Masters at Work,
Dorothy Ashby,
Thee Headcoats,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Public Enemy,
kango's stein massive,
Laurel Aitken,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Fatback Band,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Terrestrial Tones,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Wire,
Nirvana,
The Gun Club,
Johnny Osbourne,
Animal Collective,
Audionom,
Unwound,
Sällskapet,
Oblivians,
Dennis Brown,
The Moleskins,
Nils Olav,
Guru Guru,
Ornette Coleman,
Todd Rundgren,
Jeff Mills,
The Star Department,
Lou Reed,
Marc Almond,
Liliput,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Jerry's Kids,
Pantaleimon,
The Stooges,
Heaven 17,
Ohio Players,
Cal Tjader,
Porter Ricks,
Aloha Tigers,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Kurtis Blow,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Fugs,
Fat Boys,
Ponytail,
Average White Band,
Pet Shop Boys,
Flash Fearless,
Fad Gadget, Fad Gadget, Fad Gadget, Fad Gadget.
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.