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 Ghana and from Philadelphia.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 chamberlin 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 Vladislav Delay to the electroclash kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Soul II Soul. All the underground hits.
All De La Soul & Jungle Brothers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Toni Rubio 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joensuu 1685 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ultimate Spinach,
Ludus,
In Retrospect,
Aloha Tigers,
Barry Ungar,
Lower 48,
Nation of Ulysses,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Michelle Simonal,
Symarip,
Black Sheep,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Albert Ayler,
Kas Product,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Seeds,
New Age Steppers,
The Raincoats,
Faust,
Blake Baxter,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Scion,
Arthur Verocai,
The Busters,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Marine Girls,
Yaz,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
New York Dolls,
Bizarre Inc.,
The Gories,
Robert Wyatt,
Johnny Clarke,
Boredoms,
The Trojans,
The Mummies,
Flipper,
Infiniti,
Altered Images,
Skaos,
Dave Gahan,
Youth Brigade,
The Last Poets,
Harry Pussy,
Pagans,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Tubeway Army,
Simply Red,
K-Klass,
U.S. Maple,
Chris & Cosey,
Radiohead,
Camouflage,
Arab on Radar,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Icehouse,
Bobby Sherman,
Jacques Brel,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Scan 7,
The Mojo Men,
The Fugs,
The J.B.'s,
Sandy B, Sandy B, Sandy B, Sandy B.
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.