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 Seychelles and from Madrid.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bremen 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Blossom Toes to the rock kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Archie Shepp. All the underground hits.
All EPMD tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Laurel Aitken record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a 808 and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Donald Byrd record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought an organ.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Albert Ayler,
PIL,
Echospace,
Joe Finger,
U.S. Maple,
Rowland S Howard / Lydia Lunch,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Moby Grape,
Gang Starr,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Barracudas,
Camouflage,
Magazine,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Lalo Schifrin,
A Certain Ratio,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Jeru the Damaja,
The Dead C,
Smog,
In Retrospect,
Guru Guru,
Alice Coltrane,
Judy Mowatt,
D'Angelo,
Monks,
Brass Construction,
June of 44,
Eurythmics,
Rod Modell,
Kayak,
The Knickerbockers,
Ponytail,
Absolute Body Control,
Gichy Dan,
Chrome,
Inner City,
Cluster,
Max Romeo,
Minny Pops,
Ultimate Spinach,
The Five Americans,
Angry Samoans,
Flash Fearless,
Kaleidoscope,
Leonard Cohen,
Soulsonic Force,
Jeff Mills,
John Lydon,
Dorothy Ashby,
Tommy Roe,
The Seeds,
UT,
Oblivians,
The Monochrome Set,
ABC,
Aural Exciters,
Bronski Beat,
Yusef Lateef,
Radio Birdman, Radio Birdman, Radio Birdman, Radio Birdman.
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.