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 Ethiopia and from Cairo.
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 1969 to 1977.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Portland 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Janne Schatter 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 Cybotron. All the underground hits.
All Erykah Badu tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Scan 7 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joensuu 1685 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Howard Jones,
Sonic Youth,
Malaria!,
Todd Terry,
Reuben Wilson,
Sight & Sound,
Wally Richardson,
Mary Jane Girls,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Johnny Osbourne,
New York Dolls,
Fatback Band,
ABC,
The Trojans,
Monks,
Tommy Roe,
Cymande,
Wire,
the Human League,
Guru Guru,
Gabor Szabo,
Patti Smith,
Television,
Grandmaster Flash,
X-Ray Spex,
Slick Rick,
Gang Starr,
Das Ding,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Pylon,
Ornette Coleman,
Magma,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Barry Ungar,
Erykah Badu,
Ultra Naté,
Ultimate Spinach,
Radio Birdman,
The Remains,
Pet Shop Boys,
Nils Olav,
Fifty Foot Hose,
The Modern Lovers,
Soul II Soul,
Scientists,
Model 500,
Hot Snakes,
The Invisible,
Flipper,
Todd Rundgren,
Bobby Sherman,
The J.B.'s,
Cybotron,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Gories,
B.T. Express,
Sound Behaviour,
Half Japanese,
Popol Vuh,
Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX, Davy DMX.
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.