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 Slovakia and from Calgary.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 arpeggiator 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 Model 500 to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Adolescents. All the underground hits.
All Hot Snakes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Andrew Hill 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 '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Derrick Morgan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Monochrome Set,
Prince Buster,
The Music Machine,
Theoretical Girls,
Jeff Mills,
Infiniti,
Siglo XX,
Oneida,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Sonny Sharrock,
Ituana,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Hashim,
Joey Negro,
DJ Style,
June of 44,
Depeche Mode,
Symarip,
The Doors,
Bang On A Can,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Ultra Naté,
the Soft Cell,
Bauhaus,
The Knickerbockers,
Eric B and Rakim,
John Coltrane,
Camberwell Now,
48th St. Collective,
Babytalk,
Pole,
Josef K,
Scientists,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Icehouse,
Camouflage,
Brothers Johnson,
Minor Threat,
The Residents,
Joy Division,
Rod Modell,
Quando Quango,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Franke,
Simply Red,
Tears for Fears,
John Foxx,
Ken Boothe,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
T. Rex,
Barclay James Harvest,
Eve St. Jones,
Pantaleimon,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Au Pairs,
Delon & Dalcan,
Alton Ellis,
The Gladiators,
Eddi Front,
Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne.
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.