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 Micronesia and from Toronto.
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 1962 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Ice-T to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 The Human League. All the underground hits.
All Anakelly tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Roger Hodgson 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ossler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Moleskins,
The Gories,
Fugazi,
Wire,
Deepchord,
Brothers Johnson,
Main Source,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Cecil Taylor,
Black Moon,
Man Parrish,
Roger Hodgson,
The Trojans,
Bauhaus,
Procol Harum,
Grandmaster Flash,
Patti Smith,
Chrome,
Soft Cell,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Flipper,
Circle Jerks,
Howard Jones,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Durutti Column,
Rotary Connection,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Birthday Party,
Bronski Beat,
Harmonia,
Clear Light,
Pussy Galore,
Royal Trux,
Sonic Youth,
Dead Boys,
The Doors,
Delta 5,
Pierre Henry,
Donald Byrd,
Banda Bassotti,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Popol Vuh,
Agent Orange,
Darondo,
the Soft Cell,
China Crisis,
Little Man,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Country Teasers,
Rekid,
Public Enemy,
Charles Mingus,
The Selecter,
Ponytail,
Accadde A,
Shuggie Otis,
Yusef Lateef,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Mantronix,
Scan 7,
Nation of Ulysses,
The Slits,
Kas Product, Kas Product, Kas Product, Kas Product.
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.