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 Mauritius and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Hong Kong.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 The Seeds to the techno 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 Aural Exciters. All the underground hits.
All Soul Sonic Force tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Christie record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 a 808 and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Average White Band,
Donald Byrd,
Simply Red,
Suicide,
Index,
Bobby Sherman,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Josef K,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Velvet Underground,
The Alarm Clocks,
Saccharine Trust,
Fad Gadget,
London Community Gospel Choir,
DJ Sneak,
Brothers Johnson,
Roxy Music,
Adolescents,
The Victims,
Eric B and Rakim,
Amazonics,
The Moleskins,
Supertramp,
Motorama,
Moebius,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Make Up,
The Gap Band,
New Order,
Absolute Body Control,
Peter & Gordon,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Icehouse,
Glenn Branca,
Blossom Toes,
Lower 48,
Inner City,
Magma,
Stockholm Monsters,
Dennis Brown,
Sun Ra,
Black Moon,
Half Japanese,
Delta 5,
John Coltrane,
The Toasters,
Slick Rick,
Panda Bear,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Scion,
Dark Day,
Alton Ellis,
La Düsseldorf,
Liliput,
John Foxx,
Barbara Tucker,
Yusef Lateef,
Deakin, Deakin, Deakin, Deakin.
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.