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 Antigua and from Taipei.
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 1968 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 Nile Rodgers 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 Desert Stars to the jazz kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Beasts of Bourbon. All the underground hits.
All X-101 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The United States of America 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gabor Szabo record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Peter and Kerry,
10cc,
Stetsasonic,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Barbara Tucker,
Brothers Johnson,
Black Sheep,
T.S.O.L.,
Ultra Naté,
Man Eating Sloth,
Pole,
Marshall Jefferson,
Simply Red,
Pantaleimon,
Jimmy McGriff,
Jacques Brel,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Soft Cell,
The Invisible,
X-Ray Spex,
Swell Maps,
Schoolly D,
Mr. Review,
Brand Nubian,
the Germs,
the Normal,
Reuben Wilson,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Kayak,
Stockholm Monsters,
Gabor Szabo,
New Age Steppers,
Radio Birdman,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Jandek,
Groovy Waters,
Prince Buster,
Roxy Music,
The Human League,
Dennis Brown,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Andrew Hill,
The J.B.'s,
Excepter,
Radiopuhelimet,
Laurel Aitken,
Bill Near,
The Selecter,
Howard Jones,
Amon Düül,
DNA,
Deakin,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Gastr Del Sol,
MDC,
Marmalade,
DJ Style,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Dave Clark Five,
Fugazi, Fugazi, Fugazi, Fugazi.
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.