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 Panama and from Jakarta.
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 1960 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Houston.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Roy Ayers to the punk 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 Monks. All the underground hits.
All Harry Pussy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barry Ungar record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Albert Ayler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Derrick Morgan,
The Toasters,
The Invisible,
Smog,
Tears for Fears,
June Days,
Scion,
John Coltrane,
The Busters,
Deepchord,
Zero Boys,
Chrome,
Funky Four + One,
Alison Limerick,
Livin' Joy,
Brothers Johnson,
Depeche Mode,
Harmonia,
Graham Central Station,
The Moleskins,
Hot Snakes,
Roger Hodgson,
Cecil Taylor,
John Lydon,
Outsiders,
Marine Girls,
Connie Case,
Stetsasonic,
Ultra Naté,
John Cale,
Anthony Braxton,
KRS-One,
Minnie Riperton,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Chris Corsano,
MDC,
The Real Kids,
Underground Resistance,
The Smoke,
Sight & Sound,
A Certain Ratio,
Excepter,
Jacob Miller,
Groovy Waters,
The Vogues,
The Durutti Column,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Boredoms,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Sister Nancy,
Thee Headcoats,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Blancmange,
The Offenders,
Joe Finger,
Pole,
The Cosmic Jokers,
The Mummies,
James White and The Blacks,
Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja, Jeru the Damaja.
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.