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 Somalia and from Milan.
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 1962 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Spokane.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1976 at the first Chic practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Circle Jerks to the rock kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Spoonie Gee. All the underground hits.
All The Alarm Clocks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Jesper Dahlbäck 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Eli Mardock record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mr. Review,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Mantronix,
Black Flag,
The Moody Blues,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Faraquet,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Echospace,
Ronnie Foster,
Donald Byrd,
Rites of Spring,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
JFA,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Hoover,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Ludus,
Chris Corsano,
The Associates,
Young Marble Giants,
The Dirtbombs,
Glenn Branca,
Japan,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Desert Stars,
Accadde A,
X-102,
Simply Red,
Wire,
Lee Hazlewood,
Flipper,
Swans,
Letta Mbulu,
Adolescents,
The New Christs,
The Gories,
Boredoms,
Todd Rundgren,
The Angels of Light,
Amazonics,
Dual Sessions,
Sparks,
Derrick May,
MC5,
EPMD,
Duran Duran,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Wake,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The Happenings,
Barclay James Harvest,
Godley & Creme,
Archie Shepp,
E-Dancer,
Marcia Griffiths,
Jerry Gold Smith,
The Alarm Clocks, The Alarm Clocks, The Alarm Clocks, The Alarm Clocks.
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.