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 Mauritius and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 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 Fat Boys to the techno kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Justin Hinds & The Dominoes. All the underground hits.
All Bang on a Can All-Stars tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Anthony Braxton record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Amon Düül II record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nico,
Alice Coltrane,
Can,
The Mummies,
Mantronix,
The Motions,
Suburban Knight,
Lyres,
kango's stein massive,
Franke,
The Detroit Cobras,
Kenny Larkin,
The Martian,
Monolake,
Nik Kershaw,
Graham Central Station,
Country Teasers,
Dark Day,
The Smiths,
The Monochrome Set,
John Cale,
The Monks,
EPMD,
Rufus Thomas,
Soft Machine,
Isaac Hayes,
Jeru the Damaja,
Simply Red,
Lalo Schifrin,
Godley & Creme,
Tears for Fears,
Shoche,
The Cramps,
Joe Finger,
Procol Harum,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Robert Wyatt,
Deadbeat,
Eric Copeland,
Public Image Ltd.,
Pantaleimon,
Von Mondo,
Fatback Band,
Stiv Bators,
Banda Bassotti,
Section 25,
Ossler,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Darondo,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Ronnie Foster,
Desert Stars,
ABBA,
The Red Krayola,
B.T. Express,
Eric Dolphy,
Porter Ricks,
Cybotron,
Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses, Nation of Ulysses.
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.