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 Malawi and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976.
I was there at the first Wire show in Watford.
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 1967 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Cairo and Copenhagen.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Manila 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 theremin sounds with much patience.
I was there when David Bowie 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 Unwound 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 The Toasters. All the underground hits.
All Lucky Dragons tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every the Fania All-Stars record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grunge 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 chamberlin and an oboe and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Joensuu 1685 record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought an oboe.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a guitar.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Shuggie Otis,
Thee Headcoats,
Bluetip,
Byron Stingily,
DNA,
Aural Exciters,
Quantec,
The Residents,
Johnny Clarke,
The Invisible,
The Angels of Light,
ABC,
Neu!,
Talk Talk,
Dark Day,
Sonny Sharrock,
World's Most,
Visage,
Tomorrow,
Vladislav Delay,
Dave Gahan,
Robert Görl,
Brothers Johnson,
Hoover,
Electric Prunes,
Sarah Menescal,
Amazonics,
Arcadia,
Audionom,
Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dog,
Soft Machine,
Quando Quango,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Eric Dolphy,
8 Eyed Spy,
Moss Icon,
Dorothy Ashby,
Simply Red,
Loose Ends,
Davy DMX,
Mary Jane Girls,
Sandy B,
The Sound,
Rufus Thomas,
Au Pairs,
The Vogues,
Thompson Twins,
Minnie Riperton,
Magma,
The Mighty Diamonds,
Lebanon Hanover,
a-ha,
The Gladiators,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Larry & the Blue Notes,
R.M.O.,
Porter Ricks,
The Motions,
Swans,
New York Dolls,
Spoonie Gee, Spoonie Gee, Spoonie Gee, Spoonie Gee.
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.