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 Malawi and from Lagos.
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 1960 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Columbus and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1977 at the first Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Ultra Naté 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 Gang Starr. All the underground hits.
All X-Ray Spex tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scion record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 chamberlin and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Swans record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Remains,
Toni Rubio,
Oneida,
Warren Ellis,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Nas,
the Human League,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Sarah Menescal,
Leonard Cohen,
Altered Images,
Rakim,
The Five Americans,
Fatback Band,
Janne Schatter,
X-101,
Brass Construction,
Marshall Jefferson,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Hoover,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Arthur Verocai,
Danielle Patucci,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Fad Gadget,
Icehouse,
Aloha Tigers,
The Busters,
The Gories,
Bang On A Can,
Scratch Acid,
New Order,
48th St. Collective,
Alton Ellis,
Das Ding,
Second Layer,
Jesper Dahlback,
Scott Walker,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Letta Mbulu,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Alice Coltrane,
DNA,
Thee Headcoats,
Bill Near,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
CMW,
Funky Four + One,
Mars,
Grauzone,
EPMD,
Pierre Henry,
Coldchain, Rosco P., Featuring Pusha T from Clipse & Boo-Bonic,
Popol Vuh,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Real Kids,
Agent Orange,
The Doors, The Doors, The Doors, The Doors.
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.