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 Bhutan and from Bremen.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in London and Spokane.
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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Brothers Johnson to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Fear. All the underground hits.
All Babytalk tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ronnie Foster record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime 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 a sitar and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Aloha Tigers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sight & Sound,
Arthur Verocai,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
The Monks,
Alphaville,
kango's stein massive,
Silicon Teens,
Symarip,
Skaos,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Moss Icon,
Ten City,
The Music Machine,
Mo-Dettes,
The Names,
Flipper,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Bobby Byrd,
Mantronix,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Busters,
The Grass Roots,
Babytalk,
FM Einheit,
Blake Baxter,
Wire,
the Normal,
Alton Ellis,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Janne Schatter,
Bronski Beat,
Andrew Hill,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
The Detroit Cobras,
Grandmaster Flash,
Spoonie Gee,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Eddi Front,
Man Eating Sloth,
Tropical Tobacco,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Aural Exciters,
Sexual Harrassment,
Connie Case,
Gregory Isaacs,
PIL,
Young Marble Giants,
Godley & Creme,
The Star Department,
The Doors,
Excepter,
Jimmy McGriff,
the Soft Cell,
Scratch Acid,
Boredoms,
Chris & Cosey,
Gabor Szabo,
Sarah Menescal,
The Zeros,
Goldenarms,
Cheater Slicks,
Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler, Albert Ayler.
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.