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 Burkina and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1967 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Eric B and Rakim to the punk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Soulsonic Force. All the underground hits.
All The Saints tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Offenders record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 a 808 and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rosa Yemen record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Morten Harket,
Gerry Rafferty,
Soul Sonic Force,
DJ Sneak,
Iggy Pop,
Lalann,
Siglo XX,
Ultimate Spinach,
Ken Boothe,
The Neon Judgement,
Jandek,
June of 44,
Babytalk,
Johnny Clarke,
Cheater Slicks,
Kaleidoscope,
Mr. Review,
Fatback Band,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Donny Hathaway,
Audionom,
Wolf Eyes,
Sandy B,
Todd Rundgren,
Albert Ayler,
Scott Walker,
Absolute Body Control,
the Bar-Kays,
John Lydon,
Soulsonic Force,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Cameo,
Sight & Sound,
Anakelly,
Thee Headcoats,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Gastr Del Sol,
Kevin Saunderson,
the Slits,
Wire,
DNA,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Real Kids,
Funkadelic,
Technova,
The Grass Roots,
Duran Duran,
The Wake,
Peter and Kerry,
The Moody Blues,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Blake Baxter,
Man Parrish,
Dennis Brown,
The Knickerbockers,
Tears for Fears,
Shuggie Otis,
Dawn Penn,
Nirvana,
The Buckinghams,
Neil Young,
The Evens,
Second Layer,
Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef.
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.