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 Turkey and from Beijing.
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 Houston and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 rhodes 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 Tres Demented to the jazz 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 DJ Sneak. All the underground hits.
All Cal Tjader tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dawn Penn 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum 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 & Brian Jackson record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed,
Anthony Braxton,
Glambeats Corp.,
Todd Terry,
Bauhaus,
Cymande,
Duran Duran,
Main Source,
cv313,
The Saints,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
The J.B.'s,
Animal Collective,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Mandrill,
The Music Machine,
Freddie Wadling,
Sparks,
Gang of Four,
Judy Mowatt,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Young Marble Giants,
Radiohead,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Howard Jones,
The Searchers,
Jawbox,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
PIL,
James White and The Blacks,
The Cramps,
the Normal,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
The Leaves,
Prince Buster,
The United States of America,
The Dead C,
Morten Harket,
Clear Light,
FM Einheit,
Black Pus,
Grauzone,
Silicon Teens,
Yaz,
The Slackers,
Faust,
New York Dolls,
Jesper Dahlback,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Piero Umiliani,
Goldenarms,
The Wake,
Grandmaster Flash,
Roxy Music,
Wasted Youth,
Eli Mardock,
Easy Going,
Liliput,
The Slits,
Jeru the Damaja,
Eddi Front,
Tears for Fears,
Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks, Porter Ricks.
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.