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 Suriname and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez 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 1966 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 rhodes sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Interpol to the dance kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Michelle Simonal. All the underground hits.
All Rosa Yemen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bobby Byrd record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Public Enemy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your rhodes and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a rhodes.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Yusef Lateef,
Monks,
B.T. Express,
Eli Mardock,
The J.B.'s,
New Age Steppers,
Livin' Joy,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Graham Central Station,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Prince Buster,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Royal Trux,
The Gun Club,
The Shadows of Knight,
Angry Samoans,
Little Man,
Moebius,
The Gladiators,
Gang Gang Dance,
Lower 48,
The Knickerbockers,
Chris Corsano,
Fear,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Dorothy Ashby,
Joe Smooth,
Archie Shepp,
A Certain Ratio,
Moby Grape,
Eddi Front,
Arcadia,
Harry Pussy,
Maleditus Sound,
H. Thieme,
The Remains,
F. McDonald,
Ohio Players,
Black Sheep,
The Doobie Brothers,
The Walker Brothers,
Iggy Pop,
JFA,
Fela Kuti,
The Grass Roots,
Depeche Mode,
Bauhaus,
Fad Gadget,
Gang Starr,
Liliput,
Barrington Levy,
The Young Rascals,
Reagan Youth,
Smog,
the Human League,
Traffic Nightmare,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Electric Prunes,
Ronnie Foster,
Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs, Au Pairs.
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.