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 Sweden and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Feelies show in Haledon.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Taipei.
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 arpeggiator sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Gang Starr 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 Andrew Hill. All the underground hits.
All Pet Shop Boys tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson 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 a sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cure record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
LL Cool J,
L. Decosne,
Black Sheep,
Jacob Miller,
Gong,
Danielle Patucci,
48th St. Collective,
Gerry Rafferty,
Gabor Szabo,
Pagans,
Sugar Minott,
Michelle Simonal,
Bob Dylan,
Soul Sonic Force,
Marcia Griffiths,
Don Cherry,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Blake Baxter,
Duran Duran,
Agitation Free,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Bronski Beat,
Nas,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Doobie Brothers,
Lightning Bolt,
Maurizio,
Silicon Teens,
B.T. Express,
Scrapy,
John Lydon,
Minny Pops,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Sandy B,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Junior Murvin,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Tears for Fears,
Lakeside,
Oblivians,
Suicide,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Hasil Adkins,
John Coltrane,
Adolescents,
Eve St. Jones,
Nirvana,
Outsiders,
Idris Muhammad,
Lyres,
Joey Negro,
The Barracudas,
Mark Hollis,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Black Pus,
The Mojo Men,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Roger Hodgson,
Heaven 17,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Japan,
Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick, Slick Rick.
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.