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 Brazil and from Columbus.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Rekid to the rock kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Cramps. All the underground hits.
All The Real Kids tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gil Scott Heron record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock 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 synthesizer and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sun Ra record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
the Fania All-Stars,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Simply Red,
Ponytail,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Jacob Miller,
Outsiders,
Yusef Lateef,
Ornette Coleman,
Los Fastidios,
Pere Ubu,
Ronan,
Swans,
Saccharine Trust,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
The Motions,
Adolescents,
Skarface,
Bad Manners,
Soft Machine,
Sister Nancy,
Glenn Branca,
Babytalk,
The Five Americans,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Piero Umiliani,
The Count Five,
Roxy Music,
The Dave Clark Five,
Robert Hood,
Ultimate Spinach,
Qualms,
Public Enemy,
Thompson Twins,
Black Sheep,
The Selecter,
The Smiths,
Erykah Badu,
Mary Jane Girls,
Public Image Ltd.,
48th St. Collective,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Quando Quango,
Theoretical Girls,
Siglo XX,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
Marine Girls,
The Raincoats,
Ludus,
In Retrospect,
Radiohead,
Infiniti,
Lightning Bolt,
Ice-T,
Davy DMX,
The Martian,
Chris & Cosey,
Excepter,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.