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 East Timor and from Halifax.
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 1966 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 808 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 Soul Sonic Force to the rap 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 Crispian St. Peters. All the underground hits.
All Blake Baxter tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Art Ensemble Of Chicago record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 chamberlin and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Mary Jane Girls record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sonic Youth,
Andrew Hill,
Arab on Radar,
Lightning Bolt,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Blancmange,
The Five Americans,
Nirvana,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Animal Collective,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Gang of Four,
Roger Hodgson,
Piero Umiliani,
Anthony Braxton,
Man Eating Sloth,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Schoolly D,
Minny Pops,
Frankie Knuckles,
Freddie Wadling,
10cc,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Black Bananas,
Babytalk,
Clear Light,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
the Slits,
The Cowsills,
The Monochrome Set,
The Dave Clark Five,
Cameo,
Q65,
Ossler,
Bob Dylan,
Wire,
Magma,
Excepter,
The New Christs,
The Birthday Party,
Crispian St. Peters,
Bronski Beat,
Parry Music,
Lower 48,
The Vogues,
Altered Images,
Bobby Womack,
The Mummies,
Section 25,
Flipper,
The J.B.'s,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Connie Case,
The Smiths,
Scrapy,
Ituana,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Joey Negro,
The Selecter,
Kevin Saunderson,
Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly, Anakelly.
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.