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 Togo and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1964 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 Lou Reed 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 Yusef Lateef to the grime 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 kango's stein massive. All the underground hits.
All Barrington Levy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Duran Duran record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bizarre Inc. record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
E-Dancer,
Letta Mbulu,
Junior Murvin,
David McCallum,
Fear,
Marcia Griffiths,
Hashim,
Pharoah Sanders,
In Retrospect,
Barclay James Harvest,
Traffic Nightmare,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Soul Sonic Force,
Jerry's Kids,
Rakim,
Be Bop Deluxe,
The Toasters,
Anakelly,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Techniques,
Bad Manners,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Reuben Wilson,
Donald Byrd,
Parry Music,
Jeff Mills,
Yellowson,
The Monks,
The Misunderstood,
David Bowie,
Marmalade,
Kaleidoscope,
Buzzcocks,
Jawbox,
The Birthday Party,
Faraquet,
The Residents,
Anthony Braxton,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Bizarre Inc.,
Delon & Dalcan,
Clear Light,
Hot Snakes,
Aloha Tigers,
DJ Sneak,
The Martian,
Ultimate Spinach,
Alton Ellis,
Johnny Clarke,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Electric Prunes,
Blancmange,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
The Monochrome Set,
B.T. Express,
OOIOO,
Organ,
Newcleus,
The New Christs,
the Normal,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Oneida,
Stiv Bators,
Crime, Crime, Crime, Crime.
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.