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 Libya and from Lagos.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Shanghai.
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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Donald Byrd to the electroclash 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 Ultramagnetic MC's. All the underground hits.
All Idris Muhammad tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pussy Galore record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Monks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Beau Brummels,
Deakin,
The Slits,
Urselle,
Eddi Front,
Max Romeo,
Metal Thangz,
Infiniti,
Guru Guru,
Shoche,
Lalo Schifrin,
Severed Heads,
Mandrill,
Hardrive,
Chrome,
Derrick May,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Crime,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Pretty Things,
The Young Rascals,
Masters at Work,
Nas,
Barbara Tucker,
Altered Images,
The Dave Clark Five,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Tears for Fears,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
MDC,
the Slits,
Lebanon Hanover,
Juan Atkins,
The Happenings,
Negative Approach,
New Age Steppers,
Pulsallama,
Organ,
Ohio Players,
Ponytail,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Scrapy,
Kevin Saunderson,
Danielle Patucci,
These Immortal Souls,
Talk Talk,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Standells,
Pylon,
Motorama,
The Associates,
Pantaleimon,
the Fania All-Stars,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Ten City,
Cybotron,
F. McDonald,
Yellowson,
Interpol,
Jesper Dahlbäck, Jesper Dahlbäck, Jesper Dahlbäck, Jesper Dahlbäck.
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.