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 Dominica and from Winnipeg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1969 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Johannesburg and Paris.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 Althea and Donna to the jazz kids.
I played it at Trash.
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 Scott Walker + Sunn O))). All the underground hits.
All Althea and Donna tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every MC5 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Warren Ellis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Monochrome Set,
The Divine Comedy,
Bootsy Collins,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Ornette Coleman,
Masters at Work,
Agent Orange,
The Count Five,
The Last Poets,
Thompson Twins,
Gregory Isaacs,
T. Rex,
Bang On A Can,
Ludus,
Fugazi,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Yusef Lateef,
Radiopuhelimet,
L. Decosne,
Visage,
Excepter,
Charles Mingus,
The Slackers,
Yellowson,
E-Dancer,
Man Parrish,
Qualms,
The Pop Group,
The Associates,
Youth Brigade,
Bush Tetras,
B.T. Express,
Bobby Sherman,
Minutemen,
Nick Fraelich,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
the Sonics,
The Grass Roots,
Essential Logic,
These Immortal Souls,
The Doors,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Stockholm Monsters,
The Flesh Eaters,
Donny Hathaway,
Bill Wells,
JFA,
Radio Birdman,
Anthony Braxton,
Kenny Larkin,
Basic Channel,
Tomorrow,
Drive Like Jehu,
Eric B and Rakim,
Suicide,
Barry Ungar,
The Red Krayola,
Lebanon Hanover,
The Fall,
Unwound,
Urselle,
Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage, Camouflage.
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.