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 Ethiopia and from Lagos.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Paris.
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 rhodes 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 Isaac Hayes to the rap 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 Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson. All the underground hits.
All Letta Mbulu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bizarre Inc. 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sex Pistols record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bronski Beat,
Terrestrial Tones,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Arthur Verocai,
Circle Jerks,
Isaac Hayes,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
China Crisis,
Peter and Kerry,
Kayak,
Archie Shepp,
The Sound,
Jeru the Damaja,
8 Eyed Spy,
The Gladiators,
Funky Four + One,
Flamin' Groovies,
Clear Light,
kango's stein massive,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Franke,
Matthew Halsall,
Organ,
The Seeds,
The Doobie Brothers,
Arab on Radar,
Tim Buckley,
Babytalk,
Gang Green,
FM Einheit,
Talk Talk,
Soul Sonic Force,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Crime,
Camouflage,
Tommy Roe,
The Modern Lovers,
Country Teasers,
Lyres,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
The Cowsills,
Aloha Tigers,
Deakin,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Young Rascals,
Crooked Eye,
Scott Walker,
OOIOO,
Zero Boys,
David Bowie,
DJ Style,
The Velvet Underground,
Dual Sessions,
Bauhaus,
Monolake,
Los Fastidios,
Outsiders,
Dark Day,
The Buckinghams,
These Immortal Souls, These Immortal Souls, These Immortal Souls, These Immortal Souls.
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.