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 Equatorial Guinea and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1969 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 theremin 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 Agitation Free to the grunge kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Notorious Big And Bone Thugs. All the underground hits.
All Magma tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Delta 5 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Derrick Morgan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Associates,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Fela Kuti,
Jesper Dahlback,
Radiohead,
Alphaville,
Ronnie Foster,
Agitation Free,
The Cure,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Public Enemy,
Tropical Tobacco,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Blake Baxter,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Fear,
Das Ding,
China Crisis,
The Raincoats,
The Star Department,
Bootsy Collins,
the Fania All-Stars,
Peter & Gordon,
Royal Trux,
Vainqueur,
The Skatalites,
Cluster,
Outsiders,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Qualms,
David Bowie,
Joyce Sims,
Brand Nubian,
Arcadia,
The Techniques,
Stetsasonic,
Boz Scaggs,
Yellowson,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Susan Cadogan,
The Stooges,
The American Breed,
R.M.O.,
Piero Umiliani,
Alison Limerick,
Eli Mardock,
Ten City,
Black Flag,
Robert Wyatt,
Tears for Fears,
Lou Christie,
Eddi Front,
B.T. Express,
The Vogues,
Sonny Sharrock,
Babytalk,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Fluxion,
Parry Music,
Intrusion,
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, Panda Bear.
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.