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 Fiji and from Sao Paulo.
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 1961 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Fela Kuti to the rock 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 Theoretical Girls. All the underground hits.
All Lou Reed & John Cale tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Grass Roots 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Grass Roots record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Connie Case,
Crooked Eye,
MC5,
Lower 48,
Accadde A,
Underground Resistance,
John Lydon,
Marvin Gaye,
Wings,
Clear Light,
Rites of Spring,
Bill Wells,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Jesper Dahlback,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Don Cherry,
The Residents,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Essential Logic,
AZ,
Sparks,
June of 44,
Iggy Pop,
Kerrie Biddell,
Crime,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Rekid,
Althea and Donna,
Quantec,
Graham Central Station,
The Count Five,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Tres Demented,
Yazoo,
Hashim,
Neu!,
Desert Stars,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Au Pairs,
Vladislav Delay,
The Gladiators,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Spandau Ballet,
Josef K,
The Beau Brummels,
Ituana,
Joyce Sims,
La Düsseldorf,
Sun Ra,
Barry Ungar,
Maleditus Sound,
Fat Boys,
Pierre Henry,
Livin' Joy,
Theoretical Girls,
Cheater Slicks,
Ohio Players,
Franke,
Ultra Naté,
Sexual Harrassment,
Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal.
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.