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 Bangladesh and from Woodstock.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Big Star show in Memphis.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and London.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Jakarta 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Gregory Isaacs to the grime 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 Massinfluence. All the underground hits.
All Dawn Penn tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Agent Orange 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ultimate Spinach record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Gong,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Delon & Dalcan,
Rotary Connection,
Camberwell Now,
Bill Wells,
Sonic Youth,
Jandek,
Bronski Beat,
Von Mondo,
Gichy Dan,
Black Pus,
The Martian,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Pet Shop Boys,
Ronan,
The Barracudas,
Letta Mbulu,
Delta 5,
Matthew Halsall,
MC5,
The Misunderstood,
Crispian St. Peters,
Derrick Morgan,
Agitation Free,
Barrington Levy,
The Smiths,
Motorama,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Sonny Sharrock,
Dawn Penn,
the Association,
ABBA,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Toni Rubio,
New Order,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Neon Judgement,
Lou Reed,
Alison Limerick,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Bobby Sherman,
Tommy Roe,
DJ Sneak,
The Blues Magoos,
Archie Shepp,
Clear Light,
Black Sheep,
Josef K,
Jeff Lynne,
Niagra,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
The Angels of Light,
Rakim,
Scratch Acid,
The Invisible,
the Swans,
Wire,
Tom Boy,
Youth Brigade,
Parry Music,
Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone, Sly & The Family Stone.
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.