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 Vietnam and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Philadelphia 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 marimba 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 Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog to the rap kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Carl Craig. All the underground hits.
All Roger Hodgson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Thompson Twins record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an organ and a marimba and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Kerri Chandler record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Nas,
The Trojans,
Ponytail,
Throbbing Gristle,
Soft Cell,
the Slits,
Lebanon Hanover,
Magma,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
The Gories,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Yellowson,
Roy Ayers,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Guru Guru,
The Kinks,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Negative Approach,
Funky Four + One,
Bang On A Can,
Lakeside,
Section 25,
Eve St. Jones,
Joy Division,
The Dirtbombs,
LL Cool J,
The Remains,
Hashim,
Kaleidoscope,
Warren Ellis,
The Seeds,
Anthony Braxton,
Flamin' Groovies,
The Standells,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
The Buckinghams,
the Association,
Leonard Cohen,
Kevin Saunderson,
Eurythmics,
The Evens,
Lightning Bolt,
Parry Music,
Blake Baxter,
Motorama,
Stereo Dub,
Crooked Eye,
The Techniques,
Gong,
Johnny Clarke,
Grauzone,
The Young Rascals,
Agitation Free,
Oneida,
Sarah Menescal,
Camouflage,
Clear Light,
Pole,
Donald Byrd,
Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis, Shuggie Otis.
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.