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 Vietnam and from Lagos.
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 1965 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Cairo 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 1983 at the first Lewis practice in a loft in Vancouver.
I was working on the theremin 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 Groovy Waters to the rock kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Sarah Menescal. All the underground hits.
All Cymande tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amon Düül 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Coltrane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Andrew Hill,
Schoolly D,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Flesh Eaters,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Bobby Byrd,
The Neon Judgement,
Country Teasers,
The Gories,
Skriet,
Lalo Schifrin,
Easy Going,
Arcadia,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Residents,
Terrestrial Tones,
Lalann,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Nik Kershaw,
The Cramps,
The Grass Roots,
Alison Limerick,
Flash Fearless,
Brothers Johnson,
Angry Samoans,
Nick Fraelich,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
The Red Krayola,
Prince Buster,
The Shadows of Knight,
Bauhaus,
Sexual Harrassment,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Ultra Naté,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
John Foxx,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Barracudas,
Main Source,
Public Image Ltd.,
The Birthday Party,
CMW,
Charles Mingus,
Lower 48,
Alice Coltrane,
The Moody Blues,
Howard Jones,
Gang Starr,
Electric Prunes,
The Toasters,
Crash Course in Science,
The Litter,
Inner City,
Neil Young,
Yazoo,
Maleditus Sound,
The Real Kids,
Scientists, Scientists, Scientists, Scientists.
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.