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 Equatorial Guinea 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 1968 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the theremin 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 R.M.O. to the disco 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 Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All The Smiths tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Electric Light Orchestra 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Maleditus Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Minutemen,
Lalo Schifrin,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
John Holt,
Ossler,
Sam Rivers,
Mad Mike,
Sex Pistols,
Simply Red,
The Trojans,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Mandrill,
Ralphi Rosario,
Scratch Acid,
Minnie Riperton,
Gang of Four,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Erasure,
H. Thieme,
Gil Scott Heron,
Ken Boothe,
Altered Images,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Lower 48,
Groovy Waters,
Patti Smith,
Joyce Sims,
The Last Poets,
Freddie Wadling,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Hardrive,
Gichy Dan,
The Golliwogs,
Grey Daturas,
Delta 5,
Gregory Isaacs,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Prince Buster,
Stiv Bators,
cv313,
Davy DMX,
Black Bananas,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Bobby Hutcherson,
T. Rex,
The Motions,
Cymande,
Joey Negro,
Al Stewart,
Funkadelic,
Blossom Toes,
Yusef Lateef,
The Music Machine,
Chrome,
The Move,
The Sonics,
Leonard Cohen,
Be Bop Deluxe,
La Düsseldorf,
Lebanon Hanover,
Fatback Band,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Agent Orange,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell, N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell, N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell, N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell.
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.