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 Kazakhstan and from Beijing.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Stockholm.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the snare 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 Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines to the rap kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Gap Band. All the underground hits.
All Model 500 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Nick Fraelich record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz 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 clarinet and a clarinet and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rapeman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Bush Tetras,
Lalann,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Ponytail,
Severed Heads,
Wings,
Marcia Griffiths,
Von Mondo,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Rosa Yemen,
Vainqueur,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Rufus Thomas,
D'Angelo,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Kurtis Blow,
The Neon Judgement,
B.T. Express,
Delta 5,
Eli Mardock,
Fad Gadget,
Fatback Band,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Althea and Donna,
Terrestrial Tones,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Flash Fearless,
Donny Hathaway,
Jacob Miller,
The Mojo Men,
Franke,
Yaz,
Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra,
10cc,
Patti Smith,
Glambeats Corp.,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
The Slackers,
Smog,
DJ Sneak,
Ronan,
Kaleidoscope,
Das Ding,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Mummies,
Rekid,
Black Flag,
Icehouse,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
David Bowie,
Mark Hollis,
The Durutti Column,
Cal Tjader,
Alton Ellis,
Intrusion,
The Litter,
Boz Scaggs,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Sister Nancy,
The Slits,
Heaven 17,
Marvin Gaye,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Oneida, Oneida, Oneida, Oneida.
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.