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 San Marino and from Mumbai.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Houston.
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 1983 at the first Art of Noise practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Kings Of Tomorrow to the disco 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 Jeff Mills. All the underground hits.
All Jawbox tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Niagra 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eddi Front,
Bluetip,
Ultra Naté,
La Düsseldorf,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Isaac Hayes,
Idris Muhammad,
Bang On A Can,
Barrington Levy,
Yellowson,
The Gun Club,
Archie Shepp,
The Kinks,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Soul Sonic Force,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Alarm Clocks,
The Fortunes,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Sonic Youth,
Sarah Menescal,
The Offenders,
Sparks,
The Vogues,
Scan 7,
Arcadia,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Reagan Youth,
Oneida,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Smiths,
Sun Ra,
Fela Kuti,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
The Cowsills,
X-Ray Spex,
Kayak,
Sexual Harrassment,
Absolute Body Control,
Dave Gahan,
Robert Görl,
Franke,
Minutemen,
Tim Buckley,
Parry Music,
Kas Product,
New York Dolls,
DNA,
Quadrant,
Newcleus,
Lou Reed,
The Toasters,
Rod Modell,
The Seeds,
Youth Brigade,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Cheater Slicks,
Joensuu 1685,
Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood.
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.