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 Cambodia and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Beijing 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Agitation Free to the jazz 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 Traffic Nightmare. All the underground hits.
All James Chance & The Contortions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every LL Cool J 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a marimba 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 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nico,
Fatback Band,
Negative Approach,
Joe Smooth,
Whodini,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Sandy B,
Peter & Gordon,
Janne Schatter,
Donald Byrd,
Bobby Sherman,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Royal Trux,
Bobby Byrd,
Kas Product,
The Slackers,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Moebius,
Roger Hodgson,
Chris & Cosey,
Sarah Menescal,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Rufus Thomas,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Patti Smith,
Monks,
Flash Fearless,
Stetsasonic,
Susan Cadogan,
Smog,
D'Angelo,
Kerri Chandler,
the Sonics,
Juan Atkins,
X-102,
The Invisible,
Can,
a-ha,
Junior Murvin,
Marmalade,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Lee Hazlewood,
Soul II Soul,
Joy Division,
Reagan Youth,
The Fall,
Howard Jones,
The Fire Engines,
The Busters,
MC5,
Kool Moe Dee,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Symarip,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Gregory Isaacs,
The Monks,
Alphaville,
Goldenarms,
The Searchers,
The Real Kids,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
the Bar-Kays,
Surgeon,
Slave, Slave, Slave, Slave.
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.