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 Poland and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Grandmaster Flash to the grime 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 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. All the underground hits.
All Terror Squad Feat. Camron tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pagans record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 synthesizer and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Johnny Clarke record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Buckinghams,
Nirvana,
Faraquet,
The Human League,
The Grass Roots,
Dead Boys,
T. Rex,
Fluxion,
Spoonie Gee,
Sam Rivers,
Pet Shop Boys,
Ultimate Spinach,
Terry Callier,
Ossler,
Soul Sonic Force,
Sarah Menescal,
Pole,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
The Monks,
Thee Headcoats,
The Birthday Party,
Cymande,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Au Pairs,
X-102,
Faust,
Surgeon,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Johnny Clarke,
The Slackers,
L. Decosne,
Sun City Girls,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Dawn Penn,
Maurizio,
Hardrive,
Little Man,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
The Last Poets,
Charles Mingus,
Goldenarms,
LL Cool J,
Cluster,
Niagra,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
The Moleskins,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Toasters,
Easy Going,
Oblivians,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Lindisfarne,
One Last Wish,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Brothers Johnson,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Dead C,
Ohio Players,
The Red Krayola,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Hoover, Hoover, Hoover, Hoover.
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.