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 Bolivia and from Toronto.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Bremen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Johannesburg 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 808 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 Erykah Badu to the techno 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 Donald Byrd. All the underground hits.
All Minnie Riperton tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ten City record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance 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 linndrum and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Radio Birdman record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a linndrum.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Black Flag,
Ohio Players,
The Smoke,
The Blackbyrds,
Crispy Ambulance,
Dennis Brown,
The Birthday Party,
Sonic Youth,
Rekid,
Judy Mowatt,
Sällskapet,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
EPMD,
Spoonie Gee,
Dorothy Ashby,
Soft Machine,
Andrew Hill,
Organ,
The Knickerbockers,
The Neon Judgement,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Kaleidoscope,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
It's A Beautiful Day,
The Gladiators,
Grandmaster Flash,
La Düsseldorf,
Animal Collective,
Public Image Ltd.,
Lalo Schifrin,
Curtis Mayfield,
Tropical Tobacco,
Flipper,
8 Eyed Spy,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Susan Cadogan,
Zero Boys,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Gabor Szabo,
June of 44,
Boogie Down Productions,
Absolute Body Control,
Terry Callier,
Scientists,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Cal Tjader,
Pulsallama,
Aural Exciters,
Marc Almond,
Los Fastidios,
DJ Style,
Pharoah Sanders,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Joey Negro,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Sound,
Slick Rick,
The Fire Engines,
The Evens,
Niagra,
Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor, Cecil Taylor.
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.