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 Belgium and from Tehran.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Tehran and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Copenhagen 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to the rap 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 Gang Starr. All the underground hits.
All Banda Bassotti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Cosmic Jokers record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Das Ding record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a marimba.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Patti Smith,
Tears for Fears,
Thompson Twins,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
the Association,
Flash Fearless,
Avey Tare,
Technova,
The Fall,
David McCallum,
Throbbing Gristle,
Brand Nubian,
Adolescents,
Sparks,
Marvin Gaye,
Don Cherry,
Jerry's Kids,
Joey Negro,
Lindisfarne,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Slackers,
Maurizio,
Babytalk,
The Mighty Diamonds,
The Smiths,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Jandek,
The Toasters,
Dave Gahan,
The Sisters of Mercy,
Sandy B,
Oblivians,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Quando Quango,
Robert Görl,
Janne Schatter,
Negative Approach,
Black Flag,
Mad Mike,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Fad Gadget,
Peter and Kerry,
Jimmy McGriff,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Funky Four + One,
Camouflage,
Livin' Joy,
Kerrie Biddell,
Supertramp,
The Young Rascals,
Sexual Harrassment,
Todd Terry,
The Skatalites,
Donny Hathaway,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Absolute Body Control,
Spandau Ballet,
The Trojans,
Morten Harket,
Flipper,
The Moody Blues,
Tom Boy,
The Grass Roots,
Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur, Vainqueur.
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.