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 Mozambique and from London.
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 1965 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 oboe 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 Roy Ayers Ubiquity to the funk 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 Arab on Radar. All the underground hits.
All The Busters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Pretty Things record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Iggy Pop record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sam Rivers,
Rapeman,
Television Personalities,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Theoretical Girls,
Interpol,
The Busters,
Delta 5,
X-102,
Fat Boys,
Bauhaus,
Isaac Hayes,
Index,
The New Christs,
Scientists,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Gong,
The Knickerbockers,
Lou Christie,
Negative Approach,
Babytalk,
Thee Headcoats,
Camouflage,
The Black Dice,
Piero Umiliani,
Juan Atkins,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Victims,
Marvin Gaye,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Stetsasonic,
In Retrospect,
Reagan Youth,
Jerry's Kids,
Wally Richardson,
Bob Dylan,
DJ Sneak,
The Neon Judgement,
Crispy Ambulance,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Visage,
Marine Girls,
Second Layer,
Gang of Four,
The Moleskins,
Don Cherry,
Eddi Front,
Grandmaster Flash,
Gerry Rafferty,
Kaleidoscope,
Buzzcocks,
Pylon,
the Fania All-Stars,
Girls At Our Best!,
The Electric Prunes,
Rakim,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Ronnie Foster,
Flash Fearless,
Stockholm Monsters,
Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks, Circle Jerks.
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.