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 Iraq and from Johannesburg.
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 1969 to 1972.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Shanghai and Glasgow.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Hong Kong 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 1979 at the first Second Layer practice in a loft in South London.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Robert Palmer 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 Swans to the grunge kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
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 Blossom Toes. All the underground hits.
All Moss Icon tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Connie Case record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal punk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '80s.
I hear you're buying a linndrum 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 Royal Family And The Poor record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your marimba and bought a 808.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a marimba.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Shuggie Otis,
Cheater Slicks,
Peter and Kerry,
Lou Reed,
Scratch Acid,
Monks,
Surgeon,
Sticky Fingaz feat. Raekwon,
Saccharine Trust,
Roy Ayers Ubiquity,
Eden Ahbez,
Rapeman,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan,
The Alarm Clocks,
Crispy Ambulance,
Gang of Four,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Be Bop Deluxe,
the Germs,
Chris & Cosey,
Bobby Byrd,
Crash Course in Science,
Animal Collective,
Eric Dolphy,
Aswad,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Brand Nubian,
cv313,
Schoolly D,
Black Flag,
Easy Going,
Yusef Lateef,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Blancmange,
The Walker Brothers,
Intrusion,
Radiopuhelimet,
Beasts of Bourbon,
Pantytec,
Alison Limerick,
Lucky Dragons,
Gregory Isaacs,
Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu,
Wire,
Derrick May,
Barclay James Harvest,
LL Cool J,
Tropical Tobacco,
Robert Görl,
The Slackers,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
Tommy Roe,
Colin Newman,
Section 25,
Fela Kuti,
OOIOO,
Jeru the Damaja,
Godley & Creme,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Lakeside,
Bush Tetras,
Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats.
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.