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 Seychelles and from Beijing.
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 1967 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 The Martian to the jazz 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 Heaven 17. All the underground hits.
All MC5 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lizzy Mercier Descloux record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lafayette Afro Rock Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pierre Henry,
Stockholm Monsters,
Davy DMX,
The J.B.'s,
Tim Buckley,
Wolf Eyes,
Warsaw,
Unrelated Segments,
Blancmange,
Theoretical Girls,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Malaria!,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
David Bowie,
Althea and Donna,
The Doobie Brothers,
Barry Ungar,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Lebanon Hanover,
June Days,
the Fania All-Stars,
Soft Machine,
The Blues Magoos,
Dorothy Ashby,
Index,
The Walker Brothers,
Grey Daturas,
The New Christs,
D'Angelo,
Suicide,
Bad Manners,
Fela Kuti,
The Gladiators,
Mary Jane Girls,
Lee Hazlewood,
Cameo,
Max Romeo,
Yazoo,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Soul Sonic Force,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Frankie Knuckles,
Dual Sessions,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The American Breed,
The Birthday Party,
Cymande,
a-ha,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Don Cherry,
The Mojo Men,
Mr. Review,
Monolake,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Carl Craig,
MC5,
Fatback Band,
The Moleskins,
The Detroit Cobras,
The Barracudas,
The Mummies,
Maleditus Sound,
Idris Muhammad,
DNA, DNA, DNA, DNA.
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.