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 Cyprus and from Shanghai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Chic show in New York.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Traffic Nightmare to the disco 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 Lonnie Liston Smith. All the underground hits.
All Ralphi Rosario tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Metal Thangz 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 a clarinet and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Standells record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Agitation Free,
Qualms,
Adolescents,
The Leaves,
Little Man,
Zapp,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
UT,
Man Eating Sloth,
Negative Approach,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Joey Negro,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Lou Reed,
Lalann,
Suburban Knight,
Darondo,
John Lydon,
Minutemen,
Bang On A Can,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Youth Brigade,
The Fugs,
Faust,
Fat Boys,
Albert Ayler,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Andrew Hill,
Lakeside,
Curtis Mayfield,
Bizarre Inc.,
the Swans,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Fluxion,
Prince Buster,
Peter and Kerry,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
The Birthday Party,
Anthony Braxton,
Barrington Levy,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Nas,
Absolute Body Control,
David Bowie,
Smog,
The Divine Comedy,
10cc,
Sandy B,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
Arab on Radar,
Mr. Review,
Drexciya,
The Remains,
Lyres,
Ultravox,
The Angels of Light,
Kenny Larkin,
Pharoah Sanders,
T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex, T. Rex.
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.