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 Yemen 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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Sun Ra to the punk 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 Technova. All the underground hits.
All Aural Exciters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Cosmic Jokers 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 a rhodes and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a X-Ray Spex record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gian Franco Pienzio,
John Holt,
A Flock of Seagulls,
The Gladiators,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Sparks,
Warsaw,
The Litter,
The Kinks,
Gang Starr,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Kerri Chandler,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Johnny Osbourne,
Arab on Radar,
The Trojans,
Kevin Saunderson,
The Misunderstood,
The Blues Magoos,
AZ,
Dennis Brown,
Basic Channel,
Slick Rick,
Khruangbin,
Bush Tetras,
Blake Baxter,
Niagra,
The Birthday Party,
DJ Sneak,
Audionom,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Electric Prunes,
Lee Hazlewood,
The Fuzztones,
Yellowson,
Godley & Creme,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Gregory Isaacs,
Lou Christie,
Radiohead,
Arcadia,
Infiniti,
Bronski Beat,
Marvin Gaye,
Parry Music,
Pole,
Quando Quango,
Second Layer,
The Mummies,
Simply Red,
Rotary Connection,
Donald Byrd,
Roger Hodgson,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Fall,
Agent Orange,
Camouflage,
The Black Dice,
Flipper,
Television Personalities, Television Personalities, Television Personalities, Television Personalities.
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.