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 Cuba and from Calgary.
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 1960 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Philadelphia.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Shanghai 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 clarinet sounds with much patience.
I was there when Holger Czukay 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 Slits to the rap kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 The Chocolate Watch Band. All the underground hits.
All Thompson Twins tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Depeche Mode 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 '90s.
I hear you're buying a rhodes and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Laurel Aitken record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Mummies,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
EPMD,
Pantaleimon,
The Seeds,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
Alton Ellis,
Piero Umiliani,
New Order,
Monks,
Unrelated Segments,
Royal Trux,
Derrick Morgan,
Donald Byrd,
Boredoms,
Sun Ra Arkestra,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Ituana,
Marshall Jefferson,
Soul II Soul,
Marvin Gaye,
Ash Ra Tempel,
Bobby Byrd,
Sun Ra,
Tomorrow,
Audionom,
Ossler,
Hardrive,
Cecil Taylor,
Severed Heads,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
UT,
Spandau Ballet,
Lyres,
Brothers Johnson,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Jimmy McGriff,
The Buckinghams,
Jacob Miller,
Andrew Hill,
Kayak,
The Electric Prunes,
Stockholm Monsters,
Robert Wyatt,
Von Mondo,
Wasted Youth,
Sparks,
Lakeside,
Subhumans,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Fear,
Fela Kuti,
Quantec,
Bill Wells,
Visage,
Marmalade,
Soul Sonic Force,
Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen, Rosa Yemen.
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.