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 India and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1987.
I was there at the first Nirvana show in Seattle.
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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 marimba 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 Music Machine 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 Aswad. All the underground hits.
All Manfred Mann's Earth Band 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 grunge 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 a rhodes and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Coltrane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Moss Icon,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Cybotron,
John Cale,
Lebanon Hanover,
Bronski Beat,
John Lydon,
Peter and Kerry,
Eric B and Rakim,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Lindisfarne,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Bluetip,
Roxy Music,
Sight & Sound,
Japan,
The United States of America,
Roxette,
Traffic Nightmare,
L. Decosne,
Guru Guru,
Bobby Byrd,
Procol Harum,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
The Pop Group,
Mantronix,
Sam Rivers,
Excepter,
Brass Construction,
Gang Green,
June of 44,
Josef K,
Wolf Eyes,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Thee Headcoats,
Fear,
Fugazi,
The Selecter,
Loose Ends,
Davy DMX,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Barbara Tucker,
Crash Course in Science,
Technova,
Funkadelic,
Leonard Cohen,
The Monks,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Toasters,
Echospace,
Flipper,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Rhythm & Sound,
Rosa Yemen,
Vainqueur,
Youth Brigade,
Rekid,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Motorama,
The Velvet Underground,
Ronan, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.
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.