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 Lesotho 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 1967 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Madrid.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the snare 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 Hoover to the techno kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Yellowson. All the underground hits.
All Mandrill tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The New Christs record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 clarinet and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sam Rivers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bang On A Can,
Bootsy Collins,
Dual Sessions,
Mandrill,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Cowsills,
Shuggie Otis,
Porter Ricks,
Morten Harket,
The Dead C,
Parry Music,
Stiv Bators,
The Litter,
The Move,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Eve St. Jones,
Letta Mbulu,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Talk Talk,
Cecil Taylor,
Shoche,
The Index,
Robert Hood,
kango's stein massive,
Big Daddy Kane,
Scott Walker,
Patti Smith,
Ralphi Rosario,
Kevin Saunderson,
David McCallum,
Peter & Gordon,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Althea and Donna,
the Germs,
Soulsonic Force,
Sight & Sound,
Reagan Youth,
Alton Ellis,
the Bar-Kays,
Rakim,
Johnny Osbourne,
X-101,
Dorothy Ashby,
Alice Coltrane,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Franke,
Jesper Dahlback,
Roxette,
Marshall Jefferson,
Schoolly D,
Al Stewart,
Yusef Lateef,
The Gap Band,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
The Count Five,
Neu!,
Quadrant,
Lightning Bolt,
Radiopuhelimet,
Fluxion,
Radio Birdman,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
John Foxx, John Foxx, John Foxx, John Foxx.
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.