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 Zimbabwe and from Cairo.
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 Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Absolute Body Control to the dance 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 Glambeats Corp.. All the underground hits.
All Avey Tare tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultimate Spinach record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Brand Nubian record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Girls At Our Best!,
Anthony Braxton,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Toasters,
Circle Jerks,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Japan,
Jeff Lynne,
Infiniti,
Todd Terry,
KRS-One,
Erykah Badu,
Ultravox,
Leonard Cohen,
Blancmange,
Can,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
These Immortal Souls,
Monolake,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
John Lydon,
Mission of Burma,
T. Rex,
The Litter,
Henry Cow,
E-Dancer,
John Holt,
Peter and Kerry,
Qualms,
Accadde A,
Harpers Bizarre,
Patti Smith,
Maurizio,
Minor Threat,
Cal Tjader,
Hardrive,
Excepter,
The Knickerbockers,
Robert Hood,
Scott Walker,
Smog,
Harry Pussy,
Joey Negro,
Bauhaus,
Yaz,
Davy DMX,
Theoretical Girls,
The Five Americans,
Aural Exciters,
Mary Jane Girls,
Rekid,
Aswad,
Bill Wells,
Pantytec,
Big Daddy Kane,
Desert Stars,
Sun Ra,
Josef K,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Jimmy McGriff,
Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef.
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.