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 Jamaica 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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus 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 Saccharine Trust to the electroclash 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 Kurtis Blow. All the underground hits.
All Monks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bobby Hutcherson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Dave Gahan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
June of 44,
Jacob Miller,
Sugar Minott,
X-102,
Talk Talk,
Godley & Creme,
Judy Mowatt,
Sexual Harrassment,
8 Eyed Spy,
Ultra Naté,
Black Pus,
James White and The Blacks,
Prince Buster,
Stereo Dub,
The Birthday Party,
Pierre Henry,
Mandrill,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Harmonia,
Icehouse,
The Selecter,
Boogie Down Productions,
Tropical Tobacco,
Inner City,
Mantronix,
Jacques Brel,
DJ Sneak,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
The Five Americans,
Kaleidoscope,
The Sound,
DJ Style,
The Move,
Electric Prunes,
The Blackbyrds,
John Foxx,
Erykah Badu,
Marmalade,
Arcadia,
Throbbing Gristle,
Moss Icon,
Niagra,
The Walker Brothers,
Iggy Pop,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Radio Birdman,
E-Dancer,
Skaos,
New York Dolls,
Whodini,
Leonard Cohen,
Gastr Del Sol,
Kas Product,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Cheater Slicks,
Freddie Wadling,
Johnny Osbourne,
Tommy Roe,
the Slits,
Ralphi Rosario,
Yazoo, Yazoo, Yazoo, Yazoo.
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.