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 Serbia and from Tehran.
But I was there.
I was there in 1968.
I was there at the first Can show in Cologne.
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 1969 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Portland and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 Mistral practice in a loft in Amsterdam.
I was working on the spring reverb sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 Idris Muhammad to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Grandmaster Flash. All the underground hits.
All The Alarm Clocks tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Ponytail 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 '80s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Leaves record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Idris Muhammad,
La Düsseldorf,
Johnny Clarke,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Scientists,
Todd Terry,
The Fugs,
Kaleidoscope,
Surgeon,
Eric Dolphy,
Eric B and Rakim,
Traffic Nightmare,
Marc Almond,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Public Enemy,
Nation of Ulysses,
Lalann,
Faust,
The Fall,
John Cale,
The Selecter,
The Golliwogs,
Slick Rick,
The Martian,
Robert Görl,
Jandek,
Country Joe & The Fish,
Khruangbin,
The Grass Roots,
Wighnomy Brothers & Robag Wruhme,
The Saints,
The Techniques,
Desert Stars,
Royal Trux,
X-Ray Spex,
Youth Brigade,
Iggy Pop,
Kool Moe Dee,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
DJ Sneak,
Lungfish,
Kayak,
Au Pairs,
Jesper Dahlbäck,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
John Lydon,
The Knickerbockers,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Tubeway Army,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Gap Band,
Vaughan Mason & Crew,
Brothers Johnson,
Judy Mowatt,
Slave,
The Last Poets,
Barbara Tucker,
Marine Girls,
Cameo,
Gang of Four,
Deakin,
Cecil Taylor,
Archie Shepp,
Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry, Don Cherry.
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.