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 Togo and from Toronto.
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 1963 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Milan.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lyon 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 rhodes 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 Soul Sonic Force to the funk 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 Letta Mbulu. All the underground hits.
All Rosa Yemen tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Monks 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Spandau Ballet record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rotary Connection,
London Community Gospel Choir,
Bauhaus,
Fort Wilson Riot,
The Barracudas,
Popol Vuh,
KRS-One,
Fad Gadget,
the Germs,
Wally Richardson,
Jerry's Kids,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Reagan Youth,
The Buckinghams,
Johnny Osbourne,
Ituana,
Warren Ellis,
Groovy Waters,
The Misunderstood,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Outsiders,
Masters at Work,
Easy Going,
The Busters,
Bobby Hutcherson,
DJ Sneak,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Mandrill,
Camberwell Now,
Man Eating Sloth,
Mr. Review,
New York Dolls,
Severed Heads,
Massinfluence,
Ralphi Rosario,
Nico,
Main Source,
a-ha,
Glenn Branca,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
H. Thieme,
Anthony Braxton,
Alton Ellis,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Pere Ubu,
Animal Collective,
Lucky Dragons,
Archie Shepp,
Stereo Dub,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
Mary Jane Girls,
Zapp,
Leonard Cohen,
Lou Reed,
Goldenarms,
Eddi Front,
Ken Boothe,
Faust, Faust, Faust, Faust.
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.