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 Eritrea and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 2001.
I was there at the first Tiga show in Montreal.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 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 Second Layer to the disco 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 Agitation Free. All the underground hits.
All Sam Rivers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Seeds record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 a mellotron and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ronan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Soul II Soul,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Letta Mbulu,
the Slits,
Audionom,
Sun City Girls,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Brick,
The Standells,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Gichy Dan,
the Human League,
Alton Ellis,
Bad Manners,
Peter & Gordon,
Joe Finger,
DJ Style,
Second Layer,
Pet Shop Boys,
Colin Newman,
Model 500,
Hardrive,
Neu!,
Icehouse,
Smog,
The Fuzztones,
Arab on Radar,
Suburban Knight,
Interpol,
Rakim,
Bootsy Collins,
Wally Richardson,
Metal Thangz,
Rotary Connection,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Gong,
Gang Starr,
The Modern Lovers,
Severed Heads,
Marc Almond,
Lakeside,
The Slackers,
Masters at Work,
Terrestrial Tones,
Blake Baxter,
Lou Christie,
Funkadelic,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Crispy Ambulance,
Matthew Halsall,
Tim Buckley,
World's Most,
Jacob Miller,
JFA,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Tommy Roe,
Slick Rick,
Accadde A,
Todd Terry,
Desert Stars,
Eve St. Jones,
Rufus Thomas,
Glenn Branca,
Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott, Sugar Minott.
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.