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 Cape Verde and from Columbus.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Soft Boys show in Cambridge.
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 1962 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Glasgow.
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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Crispian St. Peters to the punk 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 Q and Not U. All the underground hits.
All Ronnie Foster tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Chrome 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Saccharine Trust record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Hardrive,
Johnny Osbourne,
Pantaleimon,
Funkadelic,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Theoretical Girls,
Skriet,
Cheater Slicks,
UT,
The Trojans,
PIL,
Country Teasers,
Basic Channel,
Anakelly,
Ludus,
Masters at Work,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Nick Fraelich,
Robert Hood,
Motorama,
Laurel Aitken,
The Slits,
The Victims,
Sonic Youth,
The Barracudas,
Pole,
Boogie Down Productions,
Swell Maps,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Ornette Coleman,
Negative Approach,
Mantronix,
The Stooges,
Brass Construction,
The Associates,
Erasure,
Kerrie Biddell,
E-Dancer,
Duran Duran,
Crispian St. Peters,
Lower 48,
Marmalade,
Brand Nubian,
R.M.O.,
10cc,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Moss Icon,
Pierre Henry,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Cowsills,
Charles Mingus,
Jawbox,
Bluetip,
Juan Atkins,
Albert Ayler,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Lalann,
Gil Scott Heron,
Metal Thangz,
The Star Department,
David Axelrod,
Yellowson,
Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader, Cal Tjader.
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.