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 Cairo.
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 1961 to 1973.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Jakarta and Shanghai.
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 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the marimba sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen 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 Scrapy to the crunk kids.
I played it at the Astoria.
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 Motorama. All the underground hits.
All Ludus tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Lafayette Afro Rock Band record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal rap hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a marimba and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rahsaan Roland Kirk record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Eric B and Rakim,
Gang of Four,
De La Soul & Jungle Brothers,
Eli Mardock,
Todd Terry,
The Electric Prunes,
Jawbox,
Slave,
Public Enemy,
Ken Boothe,
Sixth Finger,
Black Flag,
Mr. Review,
Technova,
June of 44,
Harmonia,
The Tremeloes,
Sly & The Family Stone,
Morten Harket,
The Shadows of Knight,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
China Crisis,
Harpers Bizarre,
Skarface,
Davy DMX,
The Smoke,
Jacques Brel,
DJ Sneak,
Bauhaus,
Hashim,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
Amon Düül,
cv313,
Darondo,
Guru Guru,
Ituana,
Ronan,
The Human League,
Joensuu 1685,
U.S. Maple,
Sister Nancy,
A Certain Ratio,
The Real Kids,
Bill Wells,
The Martian,
Bang On A Can,
Deakin,
Funkadelic,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Absolute Body Control,
Grey Daturas,
Roxette,
Soul II Soul,
Curtis Mayfield,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Buzzcocks,
The American Breed,
Arcadia,
The Birthday Party,
Nils Olav,
Kerri Chandler,
The United States of America, The United States of America, The United States of America, The United States of America.
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.