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 Panama and from Bologna.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Selda show in Istanbul.
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 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Copenhagen and Shanghai.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Taipei 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 arpeggiator 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 Colin Newman to the grime 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 Gang of Four. All the underground hits.
All Curtis Mayfield tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Litter record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a theremin and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a kango's stein massive record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought an arpeggiator.
I hear that you and your band have sold your arpeggiator and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Tom Boy,
The Barracudas,
The Motions,
Von Mondo,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Derrick May,
Franke,
Quadrant,
Interpol,
Intrusion,
Michelle Simonal,
Soul Sonic Force,
Alton Ellis,
Y Pants,
John Coltrane,
the Fania All-Stars,
Agitation Free,
Unwound,
The Saints,
Symarip,
the Soft Cell,
Easy Going,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Television Personalities,
Mad Mike,
The Slackers,
The Gladiators,
The Standells,
Gabor Szabo,
The Detroit Cobras,
Ossler,
Godley & Creme,
Carl Craig,
Second Layer,
a-ha,
The Sound,
Pulsallama,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Todd Terry,
Barbara Tucker,
Barry Ungar,
T. Rex,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
The Five Americans,
Jesper Dahlback,
Jawbox,
Archie Shepp,
Joey Negro,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
Piero Umiliani,
Underground Resistance,
Sister Nancy,
John Lydon,
Fela Kuti,
The Red Krayola,
Inner City,
The Fuzztones,
Jeru the Damaja,
Harpers Bizarre,
Delta 5, Delta 5, Delta 5, Delta 5.
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.