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 Kiribati and from Accra.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 chamberlin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Intrusion to the funk 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 8 Eyed Spy. All the underground hits.
All Skaos tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joe Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a chamberlin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Busters,
Gang Green,
Panda Bear,
Roger Hodgson,
The Slits,
Gang Starr,
James Chance & The Contortions,
John Foxx,
Kerri Chandler,
Saccharine Trust,
Minor Threat,
F. McDonald,
Girls At Our Best!,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Michelle Simonal,
Frankie Knuckles,
Man Parrish,
Lalo Schifrin,
Minutemen,
John Coltrane,
Gregory Isaacs,
Prince Buster,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Monks,
Thee Headcoats,
A Certain Ratio,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Erasure,
Marc Almond,
Eden Ahbez,
Dead Boys,
Big Daddy Kane,
Masters at Work,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Flash Fearless,
Susan Cadogan,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Walker Brothers,
The Count Five,
Sparks,
Lou Christie,
Warren Ellis,
Amazonics,
Visage,
Pierre Henry,
8 Eyed Spy,
Zero Boys,
the Slits,
Bill Near,
Ronnie Foster,
The Mojo Men,
Hasil Adkins,
The Fortunes,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
LL Cool J,
Porter Ricks,
Groovy Waters,
H. Thieme,
FM Einheit,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Durutti Column,
DJ Style,
Laurel Aitken,
The Moleskins,
Crash Course in Science, Crash Course in Science, Crash Course in Science, Crash Course in Science.
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.