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 France and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Edmonton.
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 linndrum sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Grandmaster Flash to the grunge 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 Moss Icon. All the underground hits.
All Joensuu 1685 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Traffic Nightmare record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alphaville 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?
Cabaret Voltaire,
Archie Shepp,
Traffic Nightmare,
Dorothy Ashby,
Peter & Gordon,
Lou Christie,
Amon Düül II,
Barry Ungar,
Kevin Saunderson,
Alice Coltrane,
DJ Sneak,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Red Krayola,
Aaron Thompson,
Idris Muhammad,
Gang of Four,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Roxette,
Fluxion,
Thompson Twins,
Au Pairs,
Grey Daturas,
Eden Ahbez,
Theoretical Girls,
Gregory Isaacs,
Bobby Sherman,
the Soft Cell,
Shoche,
Whodini,
Dawn Penn,
Gil Scott Heron,
Jacob Miller,
Johnny Clarke,
Bronski Beat,
Jawbox,
Agitation Free,
Iggy Pop,
X-Ray Spex,
Danielle Patucci,
the Fania All-Stars,
Eric B and Rakim,
Circle Jerks,
The Happenings,
Tommy Roe,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Lucky Dragons,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sixth Finger,
Joe Smooth,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Eric Dolphy,
David McCallum,
Anakelly,
The Count Five,
Godley & Creme,
The Last Poets,
B.T. Express,
Subhumans,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Skatalites,
Avey Tare,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies, Flamin' Groovies.
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.