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 Guyana and from Johannesburg.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Tehran.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Glasgow 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 1977 at the first Zapp practice in a loft in Hamilton.
I was working on the spring reverb 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 Arab on Radar to the crunk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Joe Finger. All the underground hits.
All Model 500 tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Dennis Brown record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a mellotron and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Alice Coltrane record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Traffic Nightmare,
Joe Finger,
Brass Construction,
Adolescents,
Juan Atkins,
Eric Dolphy,
Avey Tare,
Average White Band,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Suburban Knight,
Saccharine Trust,
Porter Ricks,
Nik Kershaw,
Barbara Tucker,
Minor Threat,
The Busters,
The Doors,
Barrington Levy,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Vladislav Delay,
R.M.O.,
Danielle Patucci,
Bootsy Collins,
Wasted Youth,
James White and The Blacks,
The Happenings,
Gong,
Youth Brigade,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
Mandrill,
Moss Icon,
Pagans,
Throbbing Gristle,
Trumans Water,
Donald Byrd,
Warsaw,
Angry Samoans,
Fugazi,
Dennis Brown,
Aswad,
The Slackers,
Sarah Menescal,
Wire,
Thompson Twins,
Don Cherry,
The Human League,
Bang On A Can,
The Vogues,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Babytalk,
Roger Hodgson,
Black Moon,
Sixth Finger,
Public Enemy,
U.S. Maple,
Oneida,
The Raincoats,
Yusef Lateef,
Guru Guru, Guru Guru, Guru Guru, Guru Guru.
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.