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 Mexico and from Sao Paulo.
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 Sao Paulo and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Winnipeg 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Shuggie Otis to the electroclash 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 Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu. All the underground hits.
All Derrick May tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Robert Wyatt record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a 808 and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott Heron record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a rhodes.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Pharoah Sanders,
the Germs,
Eli Mardock,
Easy Going,
Crispy Ambulance,
Whodini,
Joe Smooth,
Ralphi Rosario,
Danielle Patucci,
The Evens,
Brass Construction,
Pere Ubu,
Public Enemy,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Yusef Lateef,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
the Soft Cell,
Joyce Sims,
Bobby Womack,
Flipper,
Au Pairs,
Barry Ungar,
Skriet,
The Techniques,
Robert Hood,
Skaos,
Trumans Water,
The Seeds,
Mars,
Moebius,
Das Ding,
David Bowie,
Mantronix,
Junior Murvin,
The Doobie Brothers,
Beasts of Bourbon,
DJ Sneak,
Wally Richardson,
Glambeats Corp.,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Rhythm & Sound,
Barrington Levy,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Japan,
Donald Byrd,
PIL,
Cameo,
Morten Harket,
Jandek,
The Pretty Things,
Minny Pops,
Bizarre Inc.,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Lightning Bolt,
Man Parrish,
Byron Stingily,
The Electric Prunes,
Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside, Lakeside.
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.