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 Mongolia and from Shanghai.
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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 KRS-One to the dance kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Marvin Gaye. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jeff Mills 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Smiths record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Max Romeo,
The J.B.'s,
Joy Division,
a-ha,
H. Thieme,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Donald Byrd,
Marcia Griffiths,
Amazonics,
Matthew Halsall,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Drive Like Jehu,
Bizarre Inc.,
Flash Fearless,
The Martian,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Ronnie Foster,
Aural Exciters,
Letta Mbulu,
Metal Thangz,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Hasil Adkins,
Qualms,
Laurel Aitken,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Steve Hackett,
Infiniti,
The Wake,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
KRS-One,
Ohio Players,
DNA,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Lakeside,
Suicide,
Johnny Osbourne,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Roxette,
Brothers Johnson,
Gastr Del Sol,
The Victims,
John Cale,
Arthur Verocai,
Juan Atkins,
Babytalk,
Crispian St. Peters,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Tommy Roe,
John Foxx,
Zapp,
Quando Quango,
OOIOO,
Easy Going,
Ten City,
Excepter,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Glambeats Corp.,
Al Stewart,
Pharoah Sanders,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Swans,
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke.
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.