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 Kenya and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1964 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 Tom Verlaine 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 Kool G Rap & DJ Polo to the punk 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 Judy Mowatt. All the underground hits.
All Janne Schatter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Mars 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marc Almond record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Absolute Body Control,
Curtis Mayfield,
Agent Orange,
Tubeway Army,
Graham Central Station,
Stereo Dub,
The Five Americans,
Radiohead,
Babytalk,
Ornette Coleman,
10cc,
Derrick May,
Yellowson,
LL Cool J,
Eli Mardock,
Rosa Yemen,
Pharoah Sanders,
Rakim,
Soft Machine,
Bush Tetras,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Slave,
The Doobie Brothers,
Howard Jones,
Lalann,
Underground Resistance,
Monolake,
Parry Music,
The Red Krayola,
Letta Mbulu,
Youth Brigade,
Pet Shop Boys,
48th St. Collective,
Wally Richardson,
Crispian St. Peters,
Con Funk Shun,
Stetsasonic,
Wire,
8 Eyed Spy,
Symarip,
Loose Ends,
Simply Red,
Model 500,
Wolf Eyes,
Echospace,
KRS-One,
Half Japanese,
Althea and Donna,
Kevin Saunderson,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Anthony Braxton,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Dave Gahan,
Ituana,
Mandrill,
Sällskapet,
Piero Umiliani,
E-Dancer,
Hardrive,
Marmalade,
Deakin, Deakin, Deakin, Deakin.
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.