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 Belarus and from Lille.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1963 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Woodstock and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Lalo Schifrin to the grunge kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 and Jamie xx. All the underground hits.
All Ultravox tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Hill record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Larry & the Blue Notes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Juan Atkins,
Quadrant,
Quando Quango,
Bang On A Can,
The Moleskins,
the Human League,
The Misunderstood,
Blake Baxter,
Big Daddy Kane,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Tubeway Army,
Mission of Burma,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Niagra,
Kurtis Blow,
Pharoah Sanders,
Jacques Brel,
David McCallum,
Tres Demented,
Funky Four + One,
Inner City,
Yaz,
John Cale,
Stiv Bators,
Massinfluence,
Bobby Womack,
Ten City,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Skarface,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Schoolly D,
Fatback Band,
The Blackbyrds,
Warren Ellis,
48th St. Collective,
Iggy Pop,
Spoonie Gee,
Soul Sonic Force,
Sandy B,
The Smoke,
One Last Wish,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Seeds,
Malaria!,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Masters at Work,
David Bowie,
Connie Case,
Nik Kershaw,
Tomorrow,
The Blues Magoos,
Suburban Knight,
Neil Young,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Ultra Naté,
Bad Manners,
Public Enemy,
Con Funk Shun,
JFA,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Delon & Dalcan,
Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX.
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.