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 Ecuador and from Taipei.
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 1966 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and New York.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 The Stooges 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 Stiv Bators. All the underground hits.
All Kurtis Blow tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Sonic Youth record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Red Krayola record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Jeff Lynne,
Aaron Thompson,
Derrick Morgan,
Max Romeo,
Blake Baxter,
Matthew Halsall,
Ponytail,
The Fall,
Marcia Griffiths,
Marmalade,
Barrington Levy,
Erykah Badu,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Lebanon Hanover,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Clear Light,
The Mojo Men,
Deakin,
Los Fastidios,
Al Stewart,
Yellowson,
Suicide,
The Star Department,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Joe Finger,
Mary Jane Girls,
Marshall Jefferson,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Ronan,
Gregory Isaacs,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Anakelly,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Trumans Water,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Zero Boys,
Pet Shop Boys,
Jeff Mills,
Wolf Eyes,
The Busters,
Electric Prunes,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Quadrant,
Yusef Lateef,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Isaac Hayes,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Country Joe & The Fish,
John Holt,
The Saints,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Motions,
Bauhaus,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Victims,
Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield, Curtis Mayfield.
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.