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 Tehran.
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 1963 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 mellotron 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 Angry Samoans to the grime kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Louis and Bebe Barron. All the underground hits.
All Hashim tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dorothy Ashby record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Niagra record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Prince Buster,
Stereo Dub,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Zapp,
B.T. Express,
UT,
Letta Mbulu,
Kas Product,
Blancmange,
Livin' Joy,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Qualms,
Mars,
June Days,
Gang Gang Dance,
Circle Jerks,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Pet Shop Boys,
E-Dancer,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Brick,
One Last Wish,
Erasure,
Avey Tare,
New Order,
U.S. Maple,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Peter & Gordon,
Chris Corsano,
Ultra Naté,
Dave Gahan,
The Angels of Light,
Visage,
Skaos,
Andrew Hill,
Altered Images,
Popol Vuh,
the Germs,
The Buckinghams,
Soft Cell,
Marine Girls,
Grandmaster Flash,
X-101,
Little Man,
Yellowson,
Minor Threat,
Man Eating Sloth,
Harmonia,
Stiv Bators,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Dead C,
Arab on Radar,
Minutemen,
Deepchord,
Maurizio,
Cheater Slicks,
The Fortunes,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Star Department,
Fear,
Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton, Minnie Riperton.
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.