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 Eritrea and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 harpsichord 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 Laurel Aitken to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Sun Ra. All the underground hits.
All Motorama tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultramagnetic MC's record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Gap Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Pagans,
Sun Ra,
Don Cherry,
The Residents,
Amon Düül II,
Infiniti,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Joey Negro,
Kerri Chandler,
The Birthday Party,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Johnny Clarke,
X-Ray Spex,
Tommy Roe,
The Remains,
Anakelly,
Fatback Band,
Warren Ellis,
Make Up,
Boz Scaggs,
Robert Wyatt,
Fugazi,
The United States of America,
A Certain Ratio,
Ludus,
Supertramp,
Stockholm Monsters,
Procol Harum,
China Crisis,
Letta Mbulu,
CMW,
The Leaves,
Harry Pussy,
Masters at Work,
DJ Style,
David Axelrod,
T.S.O.L.,
Depeche Mode,
Ossler,
Kas Product,
Skriet,
Oblivians,
Lalo Schifrin,
Tears for Fears,
the Slits,
David McCallum,
MDC,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Archie Shepp,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Section 25,
The Detroit Cobras,
Eddi Front,
Alice Coltrane,
R.M.O.,
Pierre Henry,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Buzzcocks,
The Fall, The Fall, The Fall, The Fall.
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.