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 Algeria and from Houston.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Philadelphia and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the organ 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 Alphaville to the techno kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Al Stewart. All the underground hits.
All Ornette Coleman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Laurel Aitken record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Japan record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Dual Sessions,
Angry Samoans,
Audionom,
CMW,
Basic Channel,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Gichy Dan,
The Knickerbockers,
Gregory Isaacs,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
OOIOO,
Letta Mbulu,
Bootsy Collins,
The Litter,
Make Up,
Howard Jones,
Flipper,
The Five Americans,
The Vogues,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Yazoo,
Davy DMX,
Rekid,
Lower 48,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
New York Dolls,
Dorothy Ashby,
Slave,
Yusef Lateef,
Lightning Bolt,
Funky Four + One,
Chris & Cosey,
Leonard Cohen,
Public Image Ltd.,
Fear,
Barclay James Harvest,
Sun Ra,
The Red Krayola,
The Slits,
Circle Jerks,
Minor Threat,
Radiohead,
Hardrive,
E-Dancer,
Dennis Brown,
The Kinks,
Average White Band,
Depeche Mode,
The American Breed,
Marine Girls,
MC5,
Jeff Mills,
Aswad,
One Last Wish,
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bang on a Can All-Stars.
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.