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 Bahamas and from Taipei.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Art of Noise 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 1963 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Accra.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school London 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 Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the guitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Alice Coltrane to the electroclash 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 Age Steppers. All the underground hits.
All Graham Central Station tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Rhythm & Sound record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a snare and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Black Dice record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your organ and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an organ.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Sly & The Family Stone,
Harpers Bizarre,
The Five Americans,
Suburban Knight,
The Smoke,
Scratch Acid,
Piero Umiliani,
Echospace,
Accadde A,
Brick,
Gong,
Japan,
Toni Rubio,
Au Pairs,
Throbbing Gristle,
Amazonics,
Ultimate Spinach,
Barclay James Harvest,
Index,
Excepter,
PIL,
Gil Scott Heron,
Sonny Sharrock,
Tubeway Army,
The Victims,
Gregory Isaacs,
In Retrospect,
Electric Light Orchestra,
A Certain Ratio,
Frankie Knuckles,
Royal Trux,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Thee Headcoats,
Josef K,
Groovy Waters,
Bronski Beat,
New Age Steppers,
Andrew Hill,
Surgeon,
The Count Five,
Porter Ricks,
E-Dancer,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Scan 7,
Minutemen,
KRS-One,
Scott Walker,
Oblivians,
The Beau Brummels,
Johnny Clarke,
Black Flag,
Average White Band,
Bobby Byrd,
The Monochrome Set,
Drexciya,
Ice-T,
Bluetip,
Manfred Mann's Earth Band,
Loose Ends,
The Pop Group,
Barrington Levy,
Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef, Yusef Lateef.
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.