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 London.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Minnie Riperton 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 D'Angelo. All the underground hits.
All Bobbi Humphrey tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Slick Rick 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gerry Rafferty,
David Axelrod,
Excepter,
Peter & Gordon,
Technova,
Metal Thangz,
Roxette,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Peter and Kerry,
The Golliwogs,
Arab on Radar,
Rekid,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
One Last Wish,
Khruangbin,
Moby Grape,
The Real Kids,
Man Eating Sloth,
Charles Mingus,
Arthur Verocai,
Tres Demented,
Marshall Jefferson,
Derrick May,
The Sound,
Groovy Waters,
Prince Buster,
Ornette Coleman,
Throbbing Gristle,
Joe Finger,
Davy DMX,
Hardrive,
Crooked Eye,
Crispy Ambulance,
Unrelated Segments,
Laurel Aitken,
John Holt,
Erykah Badu,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Public Enemy,
Heaven 17,
Chris & Cosey,
Electric Prunes,
Gang Green,
48th St. Collective,
Delta 5,
The Victims,
The Standells,
Pulsallama,
Crime,
Glenn Branca,
Howard Jones,
Slick Rick,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Lindisfarne,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Birthday Party,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Spoonie Gee,
Fad Gadget,
Funkadelic, Funkadelic, Funkadelic, Funkadelic.
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.