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 Uruguay and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1968 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 snare 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 Theoretical Girls to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 the Fania All-Stars. All the underground hits.
All Scion tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ponytail 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Slick Rick record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
La Düsseldorf,
Harpers Bizarre,
Terrestrial Tones,
JFA,
Davy DMX,
Lee Hazlewood,
Depeche Mode,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
the Fania All-Stars,
Gregory Isaacs,
Country Teasers,
Zapp,
Bobby Womack,
Johnny Clarke,
The Gap Band,
The Gladiators,
Matthew Bourne,
Bill Wells,
Camberwell Now,
Trumans Water,
Chrome,
the Human League,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Jerry's Kids,
Nas,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Anthony Braxton,
Malaria!,
The Count Five,
Glambeats Corp.,
Donny Hathaway,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Ituana,
Half Japanese,
Hoover,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Star Department,
Blancmange,
Swell Maps,
The Electric Prunes,
Anakelly,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Aloha Tigers,
Terry Callier,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Mo-Dettes,
The Red Krayola,
The Seeds,
The Knickerbockers,
LL Cool J,
Connie Case,
Arthur Verocai,
Funky Four + One,
E-Dancer,
Parry Music,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke, The Smoke.
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.