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 Belize and from Columbus.
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 1965 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 linndrum 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 Whodini to the grime 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 Franke. All the underground hits.
All Radiohead tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Reagan Youth record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Big Daddy Kane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron 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 Germs,
Little Man,
Judy Mowatt,
The Searchers,
The Move,
Main Source,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Mandrill,
Faust,
The Toasters,
Royal Trux,
Blake Baxter,
Goldenarms,
Todd Terry,
The Standells,
LL Cool J,
Duran Duran,
Clear Light,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Maurizio,
Warren Ellis,
Laurel Aitken,
Eurythmics,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Glambeats Corp.,
Anakelly,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Sparks,
Vladislav Delay,
Henry Cow,
Grandmaster Flash,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Dennis Brown,
Infiniti,
Joe Smooth,
Model 500,
Reuben Wilson,
Rod Modell,
Supertramp,
Rekid,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Rhythm & Sound,
Lungfish,
Parry Music,
Sun City Girls,
The United States of America,
Sam Rivers,
Wings,
Electric Prunes,
Eden Ahbez,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Mary Jane Girls,
the Fania All-Stars,
Los Fastidios,
Joensuu 1685,
Cecil Taylor,
Faraquet,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Country Teasers,
Bobby Womack,
Y Pants, Y Pants, Y Pants, Y Pants.
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.