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 Suriname and from Edmonton.
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 1964 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Winnipeg.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Spandau Ballet to the dance kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Derrick May. All the underground hits.
All Slick Rick tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Stooges record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Nils Olav record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Doors,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Wire,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Nation of Ulysses,
Amon Düül II,
LL Cool J,
Pulsallama,
Second Layer,
Ohio Players,
Joe Finger,
Althea and Donna,
Mission of Burma,
Avey Tare,
Pantaleimon,
10cc,
the Swans,
David Axelrod,
Eric Copeland,
Y Pants,
The Litter,
Junior Murvin,
Ituana,
Camberwell Now,
Arthur Verocai,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Flesh Eaters,
Nico,
Ronnie Foster,
Kurtis Blow,
John Cale,
Marvin Gaye,
The Shadows of Knight,
Camouflage,
Wings,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Grauzone,
John Foxx,
Bootsy Collins,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Minor Threat,
The Star Department,
MC5,
Sun City Girls,
Minnie Riperton,
the Slits,
The Move,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Names,
Lou Christie,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Bob Dylan,
Ornette Coleman,
Vainqueur,
Young Marble Giants,
Malaria!,
Michelle Simonal,
The Human League,
Dennis Brown,
Funky Four + One,
Whodini, Whodini, Whodini, Whodini.
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.