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 Solomon Islands and from London.
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 1963 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Houston and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 1980 at the first Cybotron practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Wolf Eyes to the grime 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 Junior Murvin. All the underground hits.
All James Chance & The Contortions tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Searchers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Jeru the Damaja 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?
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Cramps,
Absolute Body Control,
Eric B and Rakim,
Derrick May,
Todd Terry,
The Fortunes,
R.M.O.,
The Trojans,
Sonic Youth,
Mr. Review,
Flipper,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Music Machine,
MC5,
Saccharine Trust,
John Holt,
Shuggie Otis,
The Blues Magoos,
The Pop Group,
Joensuu 1685,
Johnny Clarke,
Television,
Half Japanese,
The Moody Blues,
Ralphi Rosario,
The Pretty Things,
Howard Jones,
June of 44,
John Coltrane,
Minny Pops,
John Foxx,
Sonny Sharrock,
Angry Samoans,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Alarm Clocks,
Popol Vuh,
Supertramp,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Rekid,
Brothers Johnson,
AZ,
The Mojo Men,
The Names,
Andrew Hill,
Isaac Hayes,
In Retrospect,
Faust,
OOIOO,
Gang Starr,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Porter Ricks,
Smog,
the Human League,
Black Flag,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
The Monochrome Set,
Nick Fraelich,
Barrington Levy,
Danielle Patucci,
Ossler, Ossler, Ossler, Ossler.
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.