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 Uganda and from Halifax.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1960 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Edmonton and Delhi.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 1979 at the first Josef K practice in a loft in Edinburgh.
I was working on the chamberlin 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 It's A Beautiful Day to the rap kids.
I played it at Cafe Wha.
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 Johnny Clarke. All the underground hits.
All the Normal tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Johnny Clarke 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a linndrum and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Goldenarms,
Charles Mingus,
Cal Tjader,
Peter & Gordon,
Hoover,
The Litter,
Tom Boy,
Eve St. Jones,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Eric Dolphy,
The Victims,
Tears for Fears,
Sight & Sound,
Scan 7,
June of 44,
Royal Trux,
Motorama,
Niagra,
Pole,
Siglo XX,
Funky Four + One,
Mark Hollis,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Fear,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Sun Ra,
Freddie Wadling,
Barry Ungar,
The Slackers,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Sly & The Family Stone,
The Evens,
The Smoke,
Marc Almond,
Anthony Braxton,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
Loose Ends,
Spandau Ballet,
Crooked Eye,
Nation of Ulysses,
Kenny Larkin,
Alton Ellis,
The Offenders,
Aaron Thompson,
The Move,
Dawn Penn,
The Flesh Eaters,
Basic Channel,
Technova,
Khruangbin,
Traffic Nightmare,
Black Moon,
Joyce Sims,
Silicon Teens,
The Fall,
Derrick Morgan,
Judy Mowatt,
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap,
Au Pairs,
Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal, Sarah Menescal.
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.