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 Sweden and from Salvador.
But I was there.
I was there in 1980.
I was there at the first Cybotron show in Detroit.
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 Beijing and Bologna.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Tehran 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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Ornette Coleman to the jazz kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Fear. All the underground hits.
All Minny Pops tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Techniques record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Roy Ayers record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Modern Lovers,
Skriet,
Supertramp,
Harmonia,
The Leaves,
Drive Like Jehu,
Rotary Connection,
Maurizio,
Sonic Youth,
K-Klass,
Simply Red,
Agitation Free,
Sarah Menescal,
Robert Wyatt,
Eric Dolphy,
Barrington Levy,
Intrusion,
Moss Icon,
Junior Murvin,
Eden Ahbez,
Oblivians,
Alphaville,
Depeche Mode,
Bobby Byrd,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Juan Atkins,
Janne Schatter,
Bob Dylan,
Sonny Sharrock,
The Fall,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks,
Eric Copeland,
Roxy Music,
Nils Olav,
Barbara Tucker,
Wire,
Drexciya,
Average White Band,
Can,
Deepchord,
Rufus Thomas,
Harpers Bizarre,
Negative Approach,
Joey Negro,
Nico,
Scratch Acid,
The Tremeloes,
Das Ding,
Q and Not U,
Pylon,
Tim Buckley,
Ronan,
Marvin Gaye,
Swell Maps,
Erykah Badu,
Jeff Lynne,
The Fire Engines,
Los Fastidios,
the Swans,
The Grass Roots,
Sight & Sound,
Wally Richardson,
KRS-One, KRS-One, KRS-One, KRS-One.
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.