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 Maldives and from Seoul.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Bronski Beat show in Brixton.
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 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Portland.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1971 at the first Neu! practice in a loft in Düsseldorf.
I was working on the mellotron sounds with much patience.
I was there when Lou Reed 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 Technova to the grime kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Ralphi Rosario. All the underground hits.
All Saccharine Trust tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Last Poets 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 '60s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a spring reverb and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ohio Players record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a harpsichord.
I hear that you and your band have sold your harpsichord and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Al Stewart,
Sarah Menescal,
Eric B and Rakim,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Outsiders,
Ultimate Spinach,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
The Real Kids,
Davy DMX,
Moby Grape,
Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane,
Boogie Down Productions,
the Germs,
Harpers Bizarre,
Lindisfarne,
Nik Kershaw,
Ossler,
Joyce Sims,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Funkadelic,
Brothers Johnson,
The Cowsills,
Amazonics,
Khruangbin,
Barbara Tucker,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Hasil Adkins,
The Pretty Things,
Gong,
PIL,
Arcadia,
Sandy B,
Letta Mbulu,
Liliput,
X-Ray Spex,
Junior Murvin,
Grandmaster Flash,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Shuggie Otis,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Bauhaus,
Animal Collective,
The Blackbyrds,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Gories,
Bang On A Can,
New York Dolls,
Pierre Henry,
Lakeside,
Heaven 17,
The J.B.'s,
Dead Boys,
Barrington Levy,
Kurtis Blow,
Althea and Donna,
Fela Kuti,
David Axelrod,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
the Bar-Kays,
The Motions,
Chrome,
New Age Steppers, New Age Steppers, New Age Steppers, New Age Steppers.
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.