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 Malawi and from Lagos.
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 1967 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Mumbai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Max Romeo to the techno kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Archie Shepp. All the underground hits.
All Danielle Patucci tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Gap Band 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 '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Flipper,
The Birthday Party,
Boogie Down Productions,
Blossom Toes,
Deadbeat,
The Gun Club,
Soulsonic Force,
Visage,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Marmalade,
Moby Grape,
Flamin' Groovies,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Mojo Men,
Faust,
Underground Resistance,
Television Personalities,
Scratch Acid,
X-Ray Spex,
Terrestrial Tones,
Whodini,
John Foxx,
Fad Gadget,
Kaleidoscope,
The Human League,
Donald Byrd,
The Remains,
Bob Dylan,
F. McDonald,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
The Fugs,
48th St. Collective,
Rod Modell,
Roxette,
Hardrive,
Derrick Morgan,
The Cure,
Porter Ricks,
Barclay James Harvest,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Cal Tjader,
CMW,
Danielle Patucci,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Roy Ayers,
Joyce Sims,
B.T. Express,
Howard Jones,
Gregory Isaacs,
Eurythmics,
Reuben Wilson,
Scott Walker + Sunn O))),
Monks,
Bang On A Can,
Wings,
Public Image Ltd.,
Wasted Youth,
Lungfish,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Scientists,
Metal Thangz,
Dawn Penn,
Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico.
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.