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 Kazakhstan and from Portland.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 arpeggiator 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 Mars to the techno 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 Cecil Taylor. All the underground hits.
All Brass Construction tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Last Poets 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ralphi Rosario record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a synthesizer.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Cal Tjader,
the Germs,
Interpol,
Sandy B,
Ituana,
Chris Corsano,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Moleskins,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Dawn Penn,
Das Ding,
Joey Negro,
The Searchers,
Bauhaus,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Bill Wells,
June Days,
Khruangbin,
Gang Gang Dance,
Bronski Beat,
Warren Ellis,
Derrick Morgan,
Barrington Levy,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Evens,
Lungfish,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Juan Atkins,
Lonnie Liston Smith,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Jeru the Damaja,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Jeff Mills,
The Slits,
Curtis Mayfield,
Joyce Sims,
The Barracudas,
Bizarre Inc.,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Shadows of Knight,
MDC,
Deakin,
Beasts of Bourbon,
The Fuzztones,
Audionom,
Basic Channel,
Robert Görl,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Subhumans,
Girls At Our Best!,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Supertramp,
Royal Trux,
Drexciya,
Black Bananas,
the Swans,
Pere Ubu,
Connie Case,
Drive Like Jehu,
Adolescents,
Shuggie Otis,
R.M.O.,
Kayak, Kayak, Kayak, Kayak.
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.