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 Guatemala and from Copenhagen.
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 1961 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Wings to the grime kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Schoolly D. All the underground hits.
All The Toasters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Golliwogs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal techno hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Grass Roots record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Young Rascals,
Whodini,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Martian,
Mars,
Circle Jerks,
The Litter,
Rod Modell,
Japan,
Stetsasonic,
Newcleus,
Depeche Mode,
The Knickerbockers,
The Motions,
Television Personalities,
Johnny Clarke,
MC5,
Oneida,
Livin' Joy,
Panda Bear,
Spandau Ballet,
Peter & Gordon,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Aswad,
Radio Birdman,
Altered Images,
Eve St. Jones,
MDC,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Ralphi Rosario,
X-102,
Cecil Taylor,
E-Dancer,
Angry Samoans,
the Fania All-Stars,
Soul II Soul,
The Slits,
Sällskapet,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
K-Klass,
Mad Mike,
The Cure,
Electric Prunes,
The Invisible,
Kayak,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Flash Fearless,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Pussy Galore,
Mandrill,
This Heat,
Black Bananas,
Sixth Finger,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Kinks,
Guru Guru,
Absolute Body Control,
Sex Pistols,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls, Theoretical Girls.
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.