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 Saudi Arabia and from New York.
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 1961 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school New York 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 The Skatalites to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Cal Tjader. All the underground hits.
All Graham Central Station tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ralphi Rosario 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying an oboe and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Scrapy record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
DJ Sneak,
The Last Poets,
Can,
ABBA,
Kayak,
Jeru the Damaja,
Kevin Saunderson,
Al Stewart,
Robert Wyatt,
Howard Jones,
New York Dolls,
Tears for Fears,
James White and The Blacks,
Neu!,
Brand Nubian,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
Sight & Sound,
Heaven 17,
Josef K,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Drexciya,
Hardrive,
Rites of Spring,
Albert Ayler,
Organ,
Eurythmics,
PIL,
MC5,
Terry Callier,
OOIOO,
Juan Atkins,
Public Enemy,
Altered Images,
Rekid,
Motorama,
Barbara Tucker,
Ronan,
Yaz,
Joe Smooth,
Unrelated Segments,
Peter & Gordon,
London Community Gospel Choir,
The Mojo Men,
Bill Wells,
Aaron Thompson,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Lungfish,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
The Fugs,
Kurtis Blow,
Vladislav Delay,
Joyce Sims,
Negative Approach,
The Detroit Cobras,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Blues Magoos,
New Age Steppers,
Fela Kuti,
Young Marble Giants,
LL Cool J,
Traffic Nightmare,
Bob Dylan,
The Cosmic Jokers,
Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell, Soft Cell.
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.