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 Benin and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Buzzcocks show in Bolton.
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 1968 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Columbus.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1987 at the first Nirvana practice in a loft in Seattle.
I was working on the 808 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 FM Einheit 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 Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane. All the underground hits.
All The Toasters tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Von Mondo record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Sight & Sound record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a harpsichord.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Graham Central Station,
Grandmaster Flash,
F. McDonald,
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,
Aaron Thompson,
Scratch Acid,
Organ,
Soulsonic Force,
Grey Daturas,
The Stooges,
Underground Resistance,
John Cale,
Mary Jane Girls,
Arab on Radar,
Ronan,
Barclay James Harvest,
New York Dolls,
Rakim,
Mark Hollis,
Fatback Band,
Maurizio,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux,
Black Bananas,
Thee Headcoats,
Sonic Youth,
David Axelrod,
The Shadows of Knight,
Michelle Simonal,
Eden Ahbez,
The Cramps,
Robert Wyatt,
Reuben Wilson,
Archie Shepp,
The Golliwogs,
Joe Smooth,
The Leaves,
Panda Bear,
The Star Department,
MDC,
The Kinks,
Kevin Saunderson,
OOIOO,
Infiniti,
Lindisfarne,
Jawbox,
Zapp,
Ohio Players,
Moebius,
Barry Ungar,
The Gories,
Alton Ellis,
The Vogues,
The Blackbyrds,
Black Pus,
Bootsy Collins,
The Young Rascals,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Swell Maps,
Jandek,
UT,
Gregory Isaacs, Gregory Isaacs, Gregory Isaacs, Gregory Isaacs.
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.