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 El Salvador and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975.
I was there at the first Ubu show in Cleveland.
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 1966 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Delhi and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the oboe 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 The Divine Comedy to the funk 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 Susan Cadogan. All the underground hits.
All Radio Birdman tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Motorama 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Music Machine record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Symarip,
The Litter,
Slick Rick,
John Lydon,
Faust,
Dorothy Ashby,
Inner City,
Bronski Beat,
Hardrive,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Con Funk Shun,
Pagans,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
cv313,
Ohio Players,
Ice-T,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Joe Smooth,
The Blackbyrds,
Talk Talk,
Laurel Aitken,
Gong,
Adolescents,
Donny Hathaway,
Josef K,
Sight & Sound,
Harry Pussy,
R.M.O.,
Tropical Tobacco,
The Cowsills,
Gil Scott Heron,
Freddie Wadling,
The Skatalites,
The Misunderstood,
Judy Mowatt,
Gang Green,
Rufus Thomas,
Cameo,
Grey Daturas,
Frankie Knuckles,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
FM Einheit,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Monochrome Set,
Nick Fraelich,
The Sound,
New Order,
Ossler,
The Leaves,
Todd Terry,
Theoretical Girls,
Bobby Byrd,
Aural Exciters,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Terrestrial Tones,
Eden Ahbez,
Pantytec,
Davy DMX,
Ken Boothe,
Franke,
the Sonics,
Rakim, Rakim, Rakim, Rakim.
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.