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 Romania and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1966 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 clarinet 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 U.S. Maple to the punk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Swans. All the underground hits.
All Joensuu 1685 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Royal Trux 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Curtis Mayfield record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fela Kuti,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Nick Fraelich,
Barrington Levy,
The Human League,
Severed Heads,
Gang Gang Dance,
Tropical Tobacco,
John Lydon,
June Days,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Fortunes,
Warren Ellis,
Vainqueur,
Suburban Knight,
Gabor Szabo,
The Move,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Radiopuhelimet,
Lightning Bolt,
Prince Buster,
the Sonics,
Mission of Burma,
John Holt,
Desert Stars,
David McCallum,
Jesper Dahlback,
Barry Ungar,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Motorama,
Kas Product,
Accadde A,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Masters at Work,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
The Stooges,
Nils Olav,
Intrusion,
E-Dancer,
Yaz,
Gichy Dan,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Dual Sessions,
The Sonics,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Gang Starr,
Aaron Thompson,
Davy DMX,
The Alarm Clocks,
Popol Vuh,
The J.B.'s,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
LL Cool J,
New Age Steppers,
Panda Bear,
Theoretical Girls,
Dennis Brown,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Animal Collective,
Juan Atkins,
Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail.
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.