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 Monaco and from Shanghai.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Halifax and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Mumbai 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the synthesizer 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 Dawn Penn to the grime kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Brand Nubian. All the underground hits.
All Absolute Body Control tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Barry Ungar record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Malaria! record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a sitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Chris & Cosey,
The Cramps,
Susan Cadogan,
Joe Finger,
New Age Steppers,
Eric Dolphy,
AZ,
Howard Jones,
Grey Daturas,
Lindisfarne,
Erasure,
X-Ray Spex,
DJ Sneak,
Angry Samoans,
Jawbox,
Terry Callier,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
The Doobie Brothers,
Iggy Pop,
June of 44,
Barry Ungar,
Lebanon Hanover,
Ultramagnetic MC's,
Yusef Lateef,
Piero Umiliani,
The Stooges,
Arcadia,
cv313,
The Sisters of Mercy,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Judy Mowatt,
The Selecter,
Bang on a Can All-Stars,
Mr. Review,
Bang On A Can,
The Dead C,
The Vogues,
Aloha Tigers,
The Real Kids,
Tears for Fears,
Oblivians,
Moby Grape,
Bush Tetras,
Jerry Gold Smith,
La Düsseldorf,
The Tremeloes,
Lou Reed & Metallica,
Marshall Jefferson,
Make Up,
Joyce Sims,
Brass Construction,
Moebius,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
The Durutti Column,
Ultravox,
Bobby Byrd,
Q65,
LL Cool J,
Man Parrish,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Gun Club,
Mary Jane Girls,
David Axelrod, David Axelrod, David Axelrod, David Axelrod.
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.