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 Laos and from Madrid.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Second Layer show in South 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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Madrid and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Agent Orange to the grime kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Rakim. All the underground hits.
All Nils Olav tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Larry & the Blue Notes record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal disco 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 an organ and a chamberlin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric Dolphy,
The Fire Engines,
Rekid,
James White and The Blacks,
Gil Scott Heron,
Delon & Dalcan,
Vladislav Delay,
Jeru the Damaja,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Ituana,
Hoover,
Anthony Braxton,
The Flesh Eaters,
Scion,
The Smoke,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Idris Muhammad,
Franke,
The Cowsills,
Stetsasonic,
Warsaw,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Boredoms,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
John Lydon,
Masters at Work,
Roxette,
The Offenders,
Aaron Thompson,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Reuben Wilson,
Fugazi,
Bizarre Inc.,
Lindisfarne,
Rotary Connection,
The Happenings,
Terrestrial Tones,
Radio Birdman,
Scrapy,
Audionom,
Ten City,
Archie Shepp,
Faust,
Sexual Harrassment,
The Monks,
Yusef Lateef,
Scratch Acid,
Dual Sessions,
The Smiths,
The Motions,
Anakelly,
Deakin,
Stereo Dub,
Little Man,
Quando Quango,
The United States of America,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Ossler,
The Doobie Brothers,
Moby Grape,
Joensuu 1685,
Donny Hathaway,
Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers, Sam Rivers.
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.