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 Egypt and from Johannesburg.
But I was there.
I was there in 1979.
I was there at the first Josef K show in Edinburgh.
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 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 1965 at the first Beefheart practice in a loft in Lancaster.
I was working on the 808 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 Yusef Lateef to the grime kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 Country Joe & The Fish. All the underground hits.
All Marshall Jefferson tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Bad Manners record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk 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 808 and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Davy DMX record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your synthesizer and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a synthesizer.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Rhythm & Sound,
Grauzone,
Marshall Jefferson,
Lou Reed & John Cale,
Pet Shop Boys,
kango's stein massive,
Danielle Patucci,
Sarah Menescal,
The Victims,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Zapp,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Soul II Soul,
Mr. Review,
Bobbi Humphrey,
The Fire Engines,
The Happenings,
Franke,
Bobby Womack,
Harpers Bizarre,
Warren Ellis,
Brand Nubian,
Rhythim Is Rhythim,
Sun City Girls,
June of 44,
Basic Channel,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Five Americans,
JFA,
The Doobie Brothers,
Pagans,
Simply Red,
Grey Daturas,
John Coltrane,
X-Ray Spex,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Barrington Levy,
Quantec,
Josef K,
Second Layer,
Bill Near,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
PIL,
Cabaret Voltaire,
The Durutti Column,
Kenny Larkin,
Roy Ayers,
Andrew Hill,
Lindisfarne,
Minutemen,
T.S.O.L.,
Desert Stars,
Sällskapet,
Thee Headcoats,
Donald Byrd,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Bill Wells,
The Raincoats,
David McCallum,
Bobby Sherman,
Cameo,
Byron Stingily,
Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan.
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.