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 Mali and from Lille.
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 1969 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mexico City and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 theremin 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 Funky Four + One to the grunge kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Tomorrow. All the underground hits.
All The Sound tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Crispian St. Peters record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 an oboe and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ten City record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
Infiniti,
Todd Terry,
Ultra Naté,
The Angels of Light,
Jacob Miller,
The Toasters,
Minutemen,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Subhumans,
Chrome,
Whodini,
Robert Görl,
Bobby Womack,
Johnny Osbourne,
Stockholm Monsters,
Soul Sonic Force,
Y Pants,
Scrapy,
Janne Schatter,
Essential Logic,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Babytalk,
Monks,
Scion,
Dave Gahan,
the Normal,
Frankie Knuckles,
PIL,
48th St. Collective,
Liliput,
Funkadelic,
The Litter,
Swans,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Roxette,
Pagans,
Bill Wells,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Yellowson,
John Coltrane,
Depeche Mode,
Gang Gang Dance,
Goldenarms,
Shuggie Otis,
Crispy Ambulance,
Pylon,
John Lydon,
Grey Daturas,
Tim Buckley,
Pantaleimon,
The Dead C,
CMW,
Lungfish,
Symarip,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Matthew Halsall,
Rosa Yemen,
Lou Reed,
Desert Stars,
Cybotron,
Al Stewart,
Agent Orange,
Max Romeo, Max Romeo, Max Romeo, Max Romeo.
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.