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 Suriname and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Calgary.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 sitar 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 Mr. Review to the rock 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 Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All Eve St. Jones tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Terry Callier 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joe Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Skarface,
Yazoo,
Guru Guru,
China Crisis,
The Gladiators,
The Gap Band,
Lalann,
Roxette,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Sex Pistols,
Monks,
Public Enemy,
New Order,
Bobby Womack,
The Fortunes,
Buzzcocks,
Nils Olav,
Sonic Youth,
Unrelated Segments,
Delta 5,
Franke,
Joy Division,
Silicon Teens,
Lower 48,
New Age Steppers,
The Dead C,
Underground Resistance,
Basic Channel,
The Cure,
David Axelrod,
Tears for Fears,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Brass Construction,
Tim Buckley,
Joey Negro,
The Neon Judgement,
Visage,
The Techniques,
Roy Ayers,
The Move,
Metal Thangz,
Oblivians,
Marmalade,
Funkadelic,
the Soft Cell,
Dual Sessions,
Glambeats Corp.,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Skatalites,
Public Image Ltd.,
Gang Green,
Masters at Work,
Soft Machine,
ABBA,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Divine Comedy,
Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire, Cabaret Voltaire.
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.