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 Bulgaria and from Lille.
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 1966 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Scrapy to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Delta 5. All the underground hits.
All Tres Demented tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Sonics 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Tropical Tobacco record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lalo Schifrin,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Basic Channel,
Soul II Soul,
Cymande,
The Sonics,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Spoonie Gee,
Glenn Branca,
The Doors,
Monks,
Cheater Slicks,
Minnie Riperton,
Half Japanese,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Pharoah Sanders,
Jeru the Damaja,
Spandau Ballet,
Pussy Galore,
Bob Dylan,
Underground Resistance,
the Soft Cell,
Black Moon,
The United States of America,
The Buckinghams,
The Tremeloes,
Marmalade,
Camberwell Now,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Ten City,
T. Rex,
LL Cool J,
The Gap Band,
Joyce Sims,
The Pop Group,
Eric Dolphy,
The Fugs,
Rekid,
Letta Mbulu,
B.T. Express,
Duran Duran,
Crooked Eye,
This Heat,
New Order,
Visage,
Theoretical Girls,
Public Enemy,
Saccharine Trust,
Vainqueur,
Johnny Clarke,
The Moody Blues,
The Gories,
Fela Kuti,
The Monks,
Echospace,
Tim Buckley,
John Foxx,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Parry Music,
Gregory Isaacs,
Ronan, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.
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.