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 Afghanistan and from Edmonton.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Lyon.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the harpsichord 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 Silicon Teens to the punk kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Alarm Clocks. All the underground hits.
All T. Rex tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ultra Naté 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a güiro and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joey Negro record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
D'Angelo,
Duran Duran,
Stiv Bators,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Rufus Thomas,
The Blues Magoos,
Bill Near,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Minny Pops,
Max Romeo,
Terry Callier,
The Tremeloes,
Blossom Toes,
the Sonics,
Rekid,
Ken Boothe,
The Selecter,
Ronnie Foster,
The Human League,
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud,
Joyce Sims,
Traffic Nightmare,
AZ,
Basic Channel,
Marshall Jefferson,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Howard Jones,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Soft Cell,
The Buckinghams,
Michelle Simonal,
Flash Fearless,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Roger Hodgson,
Simply Red,
Bauhaus,
The Fire Engines,
The American Breed,
New Order,
Gang Gang Dance,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Johnny Clarke,
The Doobie Brothers,
Guru Guru,
Warren Ellis,
the Human League,
The United States of America,
Throbbing Gristle,
The Cowsills,
the Swans,
Blancmange,
Stockholm Monsters,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Young Rascals,
The Stooges,
Tears for Fears,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
Scion,
Chrome,
Jacob Miller,
Pylon, Pylon, Pylon, Pylon.
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.