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 Gabon and from Winnipeg.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Calgary 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the arpeggiator 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 Dual Sessions to the jazz 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 the Slits. All the underground hits.
All Lee Hazlewood tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scott Walker + Sunn O))) 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Mighty Diamonds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Saints,
The Invisible,
Accadde A,
Wings,
Eric B and Rakim,
Barclay James Harvest,
Amon Düül,
Silicon Teens,
Anakelly,
Pharoah Sanders,
Angry Samoans,
The Human League,
the Slits,
Pierre Henry,
Davy DMX,
Porter Ricks,
Terry Callier,
Peter and Kerry,
Drive Like Jehu,
Mary Jane Girls,
Maleditus Sound,
Zapp,
The Associates,
Soulsonic Force,
Bobby Sherman,
James Chance & The Contortions,
AZ,
The Cowsills,
Sam Rivers,
8 Eyed Spy,
John Lydon,
Black Flag,
Shuggie Otis,
The Busters,
Howard Jones,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Misunderstood,
Delta 5,
Girls At Our Best!,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Fear,
Arcadia,
Swell Maps,
Throbbing Gristle,
Au Pairs,
The Trojans,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Gang of Four,
Mo-Dettes,
Flash Fearless,
Gabor Szabo,
John Coltrane,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Chrome,
Popol Vuh,
The Birthday Party,
Minnie Riperton,
Masters at Work,
The Names,
Todd Rundgren,
Faust,
Isaac Hayes,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Eddi Front, Eddi Front, Eddi Front, Eddi Front.
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.