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 Iceland and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Sao Paulo 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 June Days to the rap 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 Ohio Players. All the underground hits.
All Cecil Taylor tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Shuggie Otis record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Last Poets record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Mo-Dettes,
The Birthday Party,
The Fall,
Urselle,
Pylon,
ABBA,
Radiopuhelimet,
Animal Collective,
Guru Guru,
The Young Rascals,
The Cowsills,
Skaos,
Lower 48,
the Bar-Kays,
The United States of America,
Chris & Cosey,
Camberwell Now,
Jeru the Damaja,
Girls At Our Best!,
Lee Hazlewood,
Audionom,
Intrusion,
The Busters,
Jerry Gold Smith,
June Days,
The Litter,
Absolute Body Control,
Stiv Bators,
Kenny Larkin,
Cameo,
John Lydon,
Bobby Byrd,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Davy DMX,
Metal Thangz,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Howard Jones,
Ralphi Rosario,
the Swans,
Crispy Ambulance,
Porter Ricks,
Pharoah Sanders,
Eve St. Jones,
ABC,
10cc,
Brick,
The Move,
Unwound,
Soulsonic Force,
James Chance & The Contortions,
Judy Mowatt,
Rekid,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Brass Construction,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Modern Lovers,
Jandek,
The Moody Blues,
Bob Dylan,
Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian, Brand Nubian.
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.