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 Liechtenstein 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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Glasgow and Manila.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Stockholm 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Eli Mardock to the rock kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson. All the underground hits.
All Faraquet tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rahsaan Roland Kirk record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 mellotron and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Marcia Griffiths record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
the Fania All-Stars,
Cheater Slicks,
Livin' Joy,
Crispy Ambulance,
The Monochrome Set,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Rhythm & Sound,
H. Thieme,
Kayak,
Section 25,
Reagan Youth,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Juan Atkins,
Althea and Donna,
Howard Jones,
Eli Mardock,
Das Ding,
EPMD,
Pulsallama,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Magazine,
Hashim,
The Remains,
Anthony Braxton,
Clear Light,
Aswad,
The Buckinghams,
Animal Collective,
The Fuzztones,
Grey Daturas,
Marcia Griffiths,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Aloha Tigers,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Groovy Waters,
Frankie Knuckles,
Erasure,
Nik Kershaw,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Alice Coltrane,
The Gun Club,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Pere Ubu,
The Modern Lovers,
Swell Maps,
Public Image Ltd.,
Rakim,
Fat Boys,
Todd Terry,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Alarm Clocks,
Mad Mike,
the Soft Cell,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Cowsills,
DJ Sneak,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Warsaw,
Maleditus Sound,
Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott.
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.