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 Cuba and from Portland.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tokyo and Beijing.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 Aaron Thompson to the punk kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 The Invisible. All the underground hits.
All Electric Prunes tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Minnie Riperton record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scientists record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Connie Case,
The Happenings,
Aaron Thompson,
Laurel Aitken,
Hashim,
Mary Jane Girls,
Grauzone,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Tim Buckley,
Basic Channel,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Mad Mike,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Red Krayola,
Anthony Braxton,
Joensuu 1685,
Gil Scott Heron,
Q and Not U,
Patti Smith,
The Standells,
Jacob Miller,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Blake Baxter,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Moody Blues,
Iggy Pop,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Mantronix,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Au Pairs,
D'Angelo,
Alphaville,
Godley & Creme,
Whodini,
The Doobie Brothers,
Joe Smooth,
Jandek,
K-Klass,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Dave Clark Five,
Nation of Ulysses,
Hoover,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Qualms,
Procol Harum,
Dorothy Ashby,
ABBA,
Peter & Gordon,
The Divine Comedy,
Lou Christie,
Minor Threat,
John Foxx,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Gladiators,
Ultimate Spinach,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
The Count Five,
Pharoah Sanders,
Lucky Dragons,
Arcadia,
Liliput,
PIL,
World's Most, World's Most, World's Most, World's Most.
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.