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 Bhutan and from New York.
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 1963 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 2001 at the first Tiga practice in a loft in Montreal.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Stiv Bators to the punk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Rosa Yemen. All the underground hits.
All Model 500 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every X-Ray Spex record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Donald Byrd record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Saccharine Trust,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Searchers,
This Heat,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Blake Baxter,
Tubeway Army,
Minor Threat,
Bobby Sherman,
Unrelated Segments,
The Techniques,
Mo-Dettes,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Last Poets,
Kurtis Blow,
Ohio Players,
Spoonie Gee,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
John Lydon,
Marcia Griffiths,
The Golliwogs,
Yusef Lateef,
Gang of Four,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Leonard Cohen,
L. Decosne,
Marshall Jefferson,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Khruangbin,
Aural Exciters,
Nick Fraelich,
Quantec,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Godley & Creme,
The Wake,
MDC,
Darondo,
Josef K,
DJ Sneak,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Livin' Joy,
The Flesh Eaters,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Pere Ubu,
Donald Byrd,
Fad Gadget,
Youth Brigade,
the Normal,
Groovy Waters,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Barbara Tucker,
K-Klass,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Brick,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
FM Einheit,
Grey Daturas,
Hot Snakes,
Erykah Badu,
Slick Rick,
Agent Orange,
These Immortal Souls,
Althea and Donna, Althea and Donna, Althea and Donna, Althea and Donna.
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.