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 Nauru and from Stockholm.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1967 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Hong Kong.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Modern Lovers to the disco 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 Bobby Byrd. All the underground hits.
All Maurizio tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lou Reed 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mo-Dettes record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cal Tjader,
Gastr Del Sol,
Spoonie Gee,
The Mummies,
Man Eating Sloth,
Wally Richardson,
Chris Corsano,
Ronnie Foster,
Man Parrish,
Marshall Jefferson,
Echospace,
The Five Americans,
Joy Division,
Arcadia,
Gong,
Roy Ayers,
Hoover,
Scrapy,
The Blues Magoos,
Junior Murvin,
Eric Dolphy,
The Detroit Cobras,
the Sonics,
Camouflage,
The Toasters,
Wasted Youth,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Symarip,
Reagan Youth,
Todd Rundgren,
Brass Construction,
Shuggie Otis,
The Pretty Things,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Jerry's Kids,
Royal Trux,
The Doors,
Groovy Waters,
Cybotron,
Icehouse,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Connie Case,
Sarah Menescal,
Scion,
Unrelated Segments,
John Foxx,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
a-ha,
Archie Shepp,
Radiopuhelimet,
Soul Sonic Force,
B.T. Express,
Panda Bear,
R.M.O.,
The Golliwogs,
Nico,
Lebanon Hanover,
Henry Cow,
the Fania All-Stars,
Half Japanese, Half Japanese, Half Japanese, Half Japanese.
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.