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 Equatorial Guinea and from Spokane.
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 Columbus and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1973 at the first Television practice in a loft in New York.
I was working on the linndrum 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 Altered Images to the crunk kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Ultimate Spinach. All the underground hits.
All Thee Headcoats tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Red Lorry Yellow Lorry 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lonnie Liston Smith record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Bluetip,
The Smiths,
JFA,
Marcia Griffiths,
Drive Like Jehu,
X-102,
Gil Scott Heron,
Pulsallama,
L. Decosne,
ABC,
Josef K,
Pantaleimon,
Lucky Dragons,
Leonard Cohen,
the Association,
Swell Maps,
Young Marble Giants,
Cecil Taylor,
Prince Buster,
Mission of Burma,
Ronnie Foster,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Robert Wyatt,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
The Grass Roots,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Jacques Brel,
The Happenings,
Boz Scaggs,
Bill Near,
Yaz,
Nick Fraelich,
Ronan,
Skarface,
Bootsy Collins,
Blancmange,
Talk Talk,
Brass Construction,
Lee Hazlewood,
Flipper,
World's Most,
Mantronix,
Graham Central Station,
Public Image Ltd.,
Howard Jones,
Clear Light,
Thee Headcoats,
Ken Boothe,
FM Einheit,
The Misunderstood,
Patti Smith,
Boredoms,
Harry Pussy,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Shuggie Otis,
The Martian,
Connie Case,
The United States of America,
Todd Rundgren,
The Blackbyrds,
Babytalk,
Monks,
Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Bootsy's Rubber Band.
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.