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 South Africa and from Taipei.
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 1965 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Mumbai and Taipei.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Delhi 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 clarinet 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 Adolescents to the electroclash 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 Soul Sonic Force. All the underground hits.
All Fela Kuti tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every The Residents 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a clarinet and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a The Stooges record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Dead C,
Jacques Brel,
DNA,
Ralphi Rosario,
Angry Samoans,
Ultimate Spinach,
Interpol,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Derrick May,
Iggy Pop,
Country Teasers,
The Chocolate Watch Band,
Marmalade,
Pantytec,
Second Layer,
Eric Copeland,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Saints,
Fela Kuti,
Niagra,
The Mojo Men,
The Cowsills,
The Misunderstood,
Crime,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Lindisfarne,
Freddie Wadling,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Tim Buckley,
X-Ray Spex,
Gerry Rafferty,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
The Young Rascals,
Johnny Clarke,
Bobby Sherman,
Parry Music,
N.O.R.E. Featuring Pharrell,
Bobby Hutcherson,
Warren Ellis,
Cluster,
Sun Ra,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Yusef Lateef,
Tres Demented,
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Brass Construction,
Stiv Bators,
KRS-One,
Talk Talk,
Rites of Spring,
Joensuu 1685,
Spandau Ballet,
Franke,
Steve Hackett,
Jimmy McGriff,
Grandmaster Flash,
The Count Five,
Big Daddy Kane,
Harpers Bizarre,
Gong, Gong, Gong, Gong.
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.