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 Chad and from Hong Kong.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
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 1960 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Calgary and Copenhagen.
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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 U.S. Maple to the punk kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Make Up. All the underground hits.
All John Lydon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Pharoah Sanders 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 snare and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rhythm & Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a spring reverb.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Neil Young,
Mary Jane Girls,
Duran Duran,
Sparks,
Underground Resistance,
Robert Wyatt,
Frankie Knuckles,
Sonny Sharrock,
Al Stewart,
Minutemen,
The Blackbyrds,
Stereo Dub,
Monks,
The Slits,
Tears for Fears,
Kool Moe Dee,
Spoonie Gee,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
Man Parrish,
The Wake,
Joy Division,
Tubeway Army,
Main Source,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
Marshall Jefferson,
The Knickerbockers,
Public Enemy,
The Toasters,
Toni Rubio,
Harpers Bizarre,
Crash Course in Science,
Piero Umiliani,
Cybotron,
DNA,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
The Slackers,
Fat Boys,
Joyce Sims,
Magma,
Maurizio,
Sarah Menescal,
the Sonics,
Pussy Galore,
Smog,
Mr. Review,
PIL,
The Moody Blues,
The Skatalites,
Judy Mowatt,
Eric B and Rakim,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Dave Gahan,
The Motions,
The Grass Roots,
Pylon,
Ohio Players,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Zapp,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Unrelated Segments,
Grey Daturas,
Darondo, Darondo, Darondo, Darondo.
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.