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 Botswana and from Manila.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and New York.
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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the mellotron 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 Wally Richardson to the disco kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Donald Byrd. All the underground hits.
All Technova tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Dirtbombs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk 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 rhodes and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a John Foxx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Buckinghams,
Juan Atkins,
Eve St. Jones,
This Heat,
Rod Modell,
Cal Tjader,
Heaven 17,
Q and Not U,
Main Source,
Radiopuhelimet,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Gories,
Scion,
Aaron Thompson,
LL Cool J,
Reuben Wilson,
Fatback Band,
Minor Threat,
The Misunderstood,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Jacques Brel,
Saccharine Trust,
Intrusion,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
China Crisis,
Rakim,
Spandau Ballet,
Scott Walker,
Glenn Branca,
The Motions,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Judy Mowatt,
Joensuu 1685,
Joey Negro,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
T.S.O.L.,
The Toasters,
Lungfish,
Marcia Griffiths,
Althea and Donna,
Wally Richardson,
Pierre Henry,
Symarip,
Joe Finger,
Camouflage,
Pet Shop Boys,
Royal Trux,
Ossler,
Iggy Pop,
Godley & Creme,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Barracudas,
Josef K,
Pussy Galore,
Electric Prunes,
John Holt,
Can,
Shuggie Otis,
Eric B and Rakim,
Cameo, Cameo, Cameo, Cameo.
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.