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 Switzerland 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 1967 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manchester 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 Human League practice in a loft in Sheffield.
I was working on the güiro sounds with much patience.
I was there when Tom Verlaine 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 Soulsonic Force to the funk kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Faraquet. All the underground hits.
All Skarface tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Donny Hathaway record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a mellotron and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Lucky Dragons record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Altered Images,
Barrington Levy,
Idris Muhammad,
The Victims,
Soft Cell,
Erykah Badu,
The Raincoats,
The Count Five,
Circle Jerks,
Swans,
Pussy Galore,
Amon Düül,
Eddi Front,
LL Cool J,
Groovy Waters,
Iggy Pop,
The Electric Prunes,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Ludus,
Ossler,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
H. Thieme,
Arab on Radar,
Rotary Connection,
OOIOO,
The Last Poets,
Subhumans,
Public Image Ltd.,
Robert Görl,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Funky Four + One,
One Last Wish,
Quadrant,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Nas,
Tom Boy,
Tears for Fears,
Jesper Dahlback,
The Five Americans,
The Dave Clark Five,
Suburban Knight,
Soul Sonic Force,
Quando Quango,
Saccharine Trust,
James Chance & The Contortions,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Barracudas,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
The Slackers,
Franke,
Pylon,
Johnny Clarke,
the Normal,
Monolake,
The Leaves,
The Buckinghams,
Major Organ And The Adding Machine,
Youth Brigade,
The Knickerbockers,
John Holt,
Bootsy Collins,
Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye.
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.