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 Botswana and from Delhi.
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 Delhi and Manchester.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton 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 1968 at the first Bowie practice in a loft in Bromley.
I was working on the theremin 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 Von Mondo 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 The Walker Brothers. All the underground hits.
All Barbara Tucker tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Erykah Badu record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal crunk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator 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 Blackbyrds record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a snare.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Second Layer,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
Masters at Work,
Joe Finger,
Country Teasers,
Fela Kuti,
The Gap Band,
Sandy B,
Duran Duran,
The Litter,
Electric Prunes,
Q and Not U,
Andrew Hill,
Crispian St. Peters,
Pharoah Sanders,
Thee Headcoats,
Kenny Larkin,
The Electric Prunes,
Spoonie Gee,
Johnny Clarke,
Bobby Hutcherson,
DNA,
Unrelated Segments,
The Last Poets,
Bobby Byrd,
Bang On A Can,
Crispy Ambulance,
Dual Sessions,
Panda Bear,
Albert Ayler,
Piero Umiliani,
Echospace,
Rhythm & Sound,
Ituana,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Qualms,
Au Pairs,
Archie Shepp,
Michelle Simonal,
Public Image Ltd.,
Dark Day,
The Slits,
R.M.O.,
Cheater Slicks,
Connie Case,
Cymande,
Avey Tare,
Shoche,
Radiopuhelimet,
Ossler,
Spandau Ballet,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse,
The Residents,
B.T. Express,
Metal Thangz,
The Searchers,
Siglo XX,
Notorious Big And Bone Thugs,
David Axelrod,
Malaria!,
June of 44,
Sight & Sound,
Maleditus Sound, Maleditus Sound, Maleditus Sound, Maleditus Sound.
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.