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 Swaziland and from Sao Paulo.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Deadbeat to the jazz kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Dennis Brown. All the underground hits.
All Grandmaster Flash tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Spoonie Gee record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sarah Menescal record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
KRS-One,
Vainqueur,
Dorothy Ashby,
Josef K,
kango's stein massive,
Severed Heads,
Talk Talk,
Suicide,
Drexciya,
The Invisible,
10cc,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Minor Threat,
Terry Callier,
Los Fastidios,
CMW,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Popol Vuh,
Gang Starr,
Babytalk,
the Slits,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Henry Cow,
Von Mondo,
The Stooges,
Bobby Byrd,
Rites of Spring,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Nik Kershaw,
Don Cherry,
Cameo,
Symarip,
Glenn Branca,
Camouflage,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Happenings,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Cramps,
The Alarm Clocks,
Tropical Tobacco,
The American Breed,
EPMD,
Scientists,
Joe Smooth,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Tears for Fears,
Marine Girls,
Y Pants,
Thompson Twins,
Ludus,
Alice Coltrane,
The Detroit Cobras,
Adolescents,
David McCallum,
The Slackers,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
The Selecter,
Goldenarms,
T.S.O.L.,
Depeche Mode,
Gang Gang Dance,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Eyeless In Gaza, Eyeless In Gaza, Eyeless In Gaza, Eyeless In Gaza.
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.