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 Eritrea and from Taipei.
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 1978.
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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Man Parrish to the funk 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 Saccharine Trust. All the underground hits.
All Cameo tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bang on a Can All-Stars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Television record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cal Tjader,
Pharoah Sanders,
Sonny Sharrock,
Popol Vuh,
Mary Jane Girls,
Negative Approach,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Infiniti,
In Retrospect,
Black Bananas,
Howard Jones,
The Angels of Light,
Flipper,
Marcia Griffiths,
48th St. Collective,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Gil Scott Heron,
Reagan Youth,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
K-Klass,
Ultravox,
The United States of America,
Tubeway Army,
Moby Grape,
Wings,
OOIOO,
Kevin Saunderson,
Tim Buckley,
Massinfluence,
Sällskapet,
Babytalk,
The Tremeloes,
Yaz,
Cymande,
Reuben Wilson,
Nils Olav,
Make Up,
Brick,
The Cramps,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Erasure,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Walker Brothers,
Marshall Jefferson,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Bad Manners,
Minnie Riperton,
The Mummies,
The Evens,
Sexual Harrassment,
Chris & Cosey,
8 Eyed Spy,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Rotary Connection,
Nik Kershaw,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Loose Ends,
Electric Prunes,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Trumans Water,
Bang On A Can,
Ice-T,
The Toasters, The Toasters, The Toasters, The Toasters.
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.