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 Samoa and from Jakarta.
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 1963 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Taipei and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Seoul 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Matthew Bourne to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Residents. All the underground hits.
All Don Cherry tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Louis and Bebe Barron 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 sitar and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Suburban Knight 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?
Subhumans,
Derrick May,
Bill Wells,
The Vogues,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Robert Hood,
Gang of Four,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Idris Muhammad,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Smoke,
Monolake,
8 Eyed Spy,
Yazoo,
Gang Green,
The Black Dice,
Ossler,
Bronski Beat,
Minor Threat,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Smog,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Royal Trux,
The Gap Band,
Dual Sessions,
Cameo,
Supertramp,
Kevin Saunderson,
Glambeats Corp.,
KRS-One,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Electric Light Orchestra,
The Pop Group,
Barry Ungar,
Absolute Body Control,
Rod Modell,
Gerry Rafferty,
ABBA,
Drive Like Jehu,
Arcadia,
Basic Channel,
Animal Collective,
Alton Ellis,
Pussy Galore,
Rosa Yemen,
Groovy Waters,
Joy Division,
Terry Callier,
Ultravox,
The Slackers,
DNA,
Sunsets and Hearts,
The Techniques,
X-102,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Camberwell Now,
The Toasters,
Funky Four + One,
Minutemen,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine, Major Organ And The Adding Machine, Major Organ And The Adding Machine, Major Organ And The Adding Machine.
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.