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 Mauritius and from Lyon.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tokyo 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Andrew Hill to the electroclash 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 Alison Limerick. All the underground hits.
All EPMD tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ajijia Myrayebe record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 clarinet and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Happenings record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Blackbyrds,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Smiths,
Jacob Miller,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Robert Wyatt,
Alison Limerick,
Traffic Nightmare,
Section 25,
Soul II Soul,
Jawbox,
Angry Samoans,
Ultravox,
Livin' Joy,
Average White Band,
Aloha Tigers,
Laurel Aitken,
Man Parrish,
K-Klass,
Brand Nubian,
The Alarm Clocks,
Isaac Hayes,
Wolf Eyes,
Black Sheep,
The Pop Group,
Aaron Thompson,
Barbara Tucker,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
The Angels of Light,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Chris Corsano,
Donny Hathaway,
The Sound,
PIL,
The Cure,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Radiohead,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Con Funk Shun,
Bauhaus,
Wire,
Kurtis Blow,
Susan Cadogan,
Tears for Fears,
Tommy Roe,
U.S. Maple,
Erasure,
Television Personalities,
Cymande,
Monolake,
Minnie Riperton,
Barry Ungar,
The Monks,
Rhythm & Sound,
Pole,
Derrick Morgan,
David Bowie,
The Gladiators,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Heaven 17,
Ultra Naté, Ultra Naté, Ultra Naté, Ultra Naté.
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.