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 Tunisia and from Lagos.
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 1961 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Spokane 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 1976 at the first Feelies practice in a loft in Haledon.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Roy Ayers to the grime 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 Letta Mbulu. All the underground hits.
All The Mummies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Monks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 808 and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a James Chance & The Contortions record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Robert Hood,
Wasted Youth,
Cal Tjader,
Delta 5,
The Vogues,
The Standells,
Anthony Braxton,
Erasure,
X-101,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Tubeway Army,
Nick Fraelich,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Gichy Dan,
Liliput,
Moebius,
The American Breed,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Bobbi Humphrey,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Josef K,
The Monochrome Set,
The Real Kids,
Idris Muhammad,
Faraquet,
Little Man,
Toni Rubio,
Suburban Knight,
Duran Duran,
Avey Tare,
Spoonie Gee,
the Normal,
David McCallum,
The Monks,
Bobby Byrd,
Mad Mike,
Nils Olav,
Gerry Rafferty,
Bobby Womack,
The Cramps,
Alton Ellis,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Jerry's Kids,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Guru Guru,
Bill Wells,
Ultra Naté,
Cecil Taylor,
Tres Demented,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Human League,
The Grass Roots,
Stockholm Monsters,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Altered Images,
The Doors,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
D'Angelo,
Organ,
Eric Dolphy, Eric Dolphy, Eric Dolphy, Eric Dolphy.
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.