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 Kiribati and from Manila.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1964 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bremen and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Houston 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Minnie Riperton to the disco kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Funkadelic. All the underground hits.
All Bob Dylan tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Divine Comedy record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Erykah Badu record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Dave Clark Five,
Yusef Lateef,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Erasure,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
The Skatalites,
The Zeros,
Rites of Spring,
Gregory Isaacs,
ABC,
Nick Fraelich,
Mission of Burma,
Gang of Four,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Amon Düül II,
Eli Mardock,
Oneida,
Chris Corsano,
Panda Bear,
Eurythmics,
Grauzone,
Television,
The Leaves,
La Düsseldorf,
Jeff Mills,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Gang Green,
DNA,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Cal Tjader,
Stockholm Monsters,
Kayak,
John Holt,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Intrusion,
Suburban Knight,
Peter and Kerry,
Pagans,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Fortunes,
T. Rex,
Country Teasers,
Fela Kuti,
Camberwell Now,
Rakim,
Radio Birdman,
The Barracudas,
Godley & Creme,
Hashim,
The Gories,
The Beau Brummels,
Underground Resistance,
Man Eating Sloth,
Royal Trux,
Magazine,
Banda Bassotti,
Sex Pistols,
Rod Modell,
Throbbing Gristle,
the Fania All-Stars,
Newcleus,
Zapp, Zapp, Zapp, Zapp.
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.