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 Kyrgyzstan and from Edmonton.
But I was there.
I was there in 1967.
I was there at the first Rodriguez show in Detroit.
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 1961 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Salvador and Johannesburg.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lagos 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 1983 at the first Bronski Beat practice in a loft in Brixton.
I was working on the 808 sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart 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 Minor Threat 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 Slick Rick. All the underground hits.
All Mary Jane Girls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every T. Rex record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a harpsichord and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Cowsills record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Mission of Burma,
Max Romeo,
Ohio Players,
Absolute Body Control,
Eric Dolphy,
Scientists,
Grauzone,
The Birthday Party,
Harpers Bizarre,
Essential Logic,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
The Searchers,
Royal Trux,
Johnny Osbourne,
Chris & Cosey,
Blake Baxter,
Pantytec,
Black Pus,
the Soft Cell,
cv313,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Moby Grape,
The Divine Comedy,
The Wake,
Jimmy McGriff,
La Düsseldorf,
Duran Duran,
Sam Rivers,
Deadbeat,
A Certain Ratio,
The Leaves,
The Walker Brothers,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Pharoah Sanders,
the Germs,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Gabor Szabo,
Hasil Adkins,
Matthew Halsall,
Ten City,
Throbbing Gristle,
R.M.O.,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Monks,
Depeche Mode,
Nation of Ulysses,
Schoolly D,
Thompson Twins,
Panda Bear,
Gang Green,
Nirvana,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Saints,
The Cosmic Jokers,
David McCallum,
The Pop Group,
Moebius,
The Doobie Brothers,
Neu!, Neu!, Neu!, Neu!.
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.