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 Benin and from Beijing.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1962 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Josef K to the dance kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Wire. All the underground hits.
All Tomorrow tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a guitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Slick Rick record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
a-ha,
Eurythmics,
The Five Americans,
Soul II Soul,
The Young Rascals,
Trumans Water,
Spoonie Gee,
Lungfish,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
the Bar-Kays,
Nick Fraelich,
Rosa Yemen,
Vladislav Delay,
Byron Stingily,
Blossom Toes,
Letta Mbulu,
One Last Wish,
Thee Headcoats,
Massinfluence,
Rotary Connection,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Sonics,
Surgeon,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Fortunes,
the Soft Cell,
KRS-One,
Donald Byrd,
DJ Style,
Sex Pistols,
Black Sheep,
the Slits,
Wally Richardson,
Lucky Dragons,
Moebius,
Tres Demented,
Susan Cadogan,
Arthur Verocai,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Smoke,
Accadde A,
Average White Band,
Agent Orange,
Peter & Gordon,
Schoolly D,
Fad Gadget,
Matthew Halsall,
Metal Thangz,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Porter Ricks,
the Human League,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Gregory Isaacs,
Blancmange,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Sällskapet,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Alarm Clocks,
Hardrive, Hardrive, Hardrive, Hardrive.
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.