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 Turkmenistan and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Zapp show in Hamilton.
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 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 marimba 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 Ultra Naté to the grunge 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 Eyeless In Gaza. All the underground hits.
All Flamin' Groovies tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Fela Kuti 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 '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Oppenheimer Analysis record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Ice-T,
Ken Boothe,
The Fortunes,
Monolake,
Minutemen,
Absolute Body Control,
Trumans Water,
Stereo Dub,
Black Moon,
Bill Near,
Ponytail,
The Moody Blues,
Johnny Clarke,
China Crisis,
the Slits,
Danielle Patucci,
The Slits,
Flamin' Groovies,
Ash Ra Tempel,
The Vogues,
LL Cool J,
Sam Rivers,
Sun Ra,
Terrestrial Tones,
Lou Christie,
Pantytec,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Basic Channel,
Bizarre Inc.,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Marc Almond,
The Doors,
Franke,
Scratch Acid,
Delta 5,
The Names,
Con Funk Shun,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Brick,
Pylon,
Mr. Review,
Country Teasers,
Dennis Brown,
Maleditus Sound,
The Beau Brummels,
Marmalade,
Hot Snakes,
The Zeros,
Massinfluence,
Minnie Riperton,
Mandrill,
Q and Not U,
Reuben Wilson,
John Holt,
Jeff Mills,
Scion,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Sound Behaviour,
Nation of Ulysses,
Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48, Lower 48.
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.