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 Korea North and from Taipei.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Sao Paulo and Edmonton.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 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 Circle Jerks to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Colin Newman. All the underground hits.
All Frankie Knuckles tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultramagnetic MC's record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Monks record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pierre Henry,
Kool Moe Dee,
Prince Buster,
Dorothy Ashby,
Tropical Tobacco,
Hardrive,
U.S. Maple,
Blossom Toes,
The Evens,
Marvin Gaye,
Youth Brigade,
Mark Hollis,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
The Angels of Light,
E-Dancer,
Hashim,
Tres Demented,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Davy DMX,
Ludus,
Yusef Lateef,
Jeff Lynne,
Gong,
The Seeds,
Johnny Clarke,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Gories,
Aaron Thompson,
The Detroit Cobras,
The New Christs,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Alice Coltrane,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Sparks,
Stockholm Monsters,
The Gun Club,
Easy Going,
Crispy Ambulance,
Rekid,
Monks,
Agent Orange,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Index,
The Saints,
Todd Rundgren,
Qualms,
Spandau Ballet,
Wings,
Throbbing Gristle,
Barry Ungar,
The Gladiators,
Heaven 17,
Dual Sessions,
Faraquet,
Nas,
The Last Poets,
Suburban Knight,
Deakin,
Reagan Youth,
Underground Resistance,
Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo, Von Mondo.
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.