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 Tajikistan and from Halifax.
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 1960 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Seoul and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 spring reverb 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 The Chocolate Watch Band to the rock 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 Arthur Verocai. All the underground hits.
All DJ Style tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Mighty Diamonds record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a B.T. Express record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minutemen,
Davy DMX,
Freddie Wadling,
KRS-One,
Gang Gang Dance,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Todd Terry,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
The Kinks,
Electric Prunes,
Pet Shop Boys,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Stereo Dub,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Bob Dylan,
The Sonics,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Girls At Our Best!,
Depeche Mode,
Rosa Yemen,
the Normal,
Johnny Osbourne,
Yaz,
Amon Düül,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Dead Boys,
Wasted Youth,
Panda Bear,
Camberwell Now,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Fatback Band,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Hashim,
Graham Central Station,
A Certain Ratio,
David Axelrod,
Crime,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Spandau Ballet,
Pylon,
Urselle,
Moebius,
Al Stewart,
Derrick May,
Scientists,
Aural Exciters,
Joensuu 1685,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Saints,
Black Sheep,
John Foxx,
Roxy Music,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Scott Walker,
The Tremeloes,
Negative Approach,
Saccharine Trust,
Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks.
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.