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 Egypt and from Spokane.
But I was there.
I was there in 1984.
I was there at the first Arcadia show in London.
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 1964 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Manchester and Seoul.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 1971 at the first Selda practice in a loft in Istanbul.
I was working on the organ 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 Fifty Foot Hose to the rap kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 New Order. All the underground hits.
All The Shadows of Knight tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Kerri Chandler record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 guitar and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a It's A Beautiful Day record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Slits,
Mantronix,
Minny Pops,
Arab on Radar,
Harpers Bizarre,
Glambeats Corp.,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
The Leaves,
Joyce Sims,
The Kinks,
Marmalade,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Stereo Dub,
Lightning Bolt,
Bauhaus,
the Bar-Kays,
Jacob Miller,
Tres Demented,
Black Bananas,
X-101,
Popol Vuh,
New Age Steppers,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Livin' Joy,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
The Martian,
Prince Buster,
Hasil Adkins,
Blancmange,
Kayak,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
The Human League,
ABBA,
Rufus Thomas,
Chris Corsano,
Harmonia,
the Association,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Tropical Tobacco,
Terrestrial Tones,
Masters at Work,
Judy Mowatt,
Joy Division,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
10cc,
Josef K,
Rosa Yemen,
The Litter,
Liliput,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Charles Mingus,
Yaz,
B.T. Express,
Max Romeo,
Tubeway Army,
Joe Smooth,
a-ha,
Sparks,
Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt, Robert Wyatt.
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.