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 St Lucia and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1983.
I was there at the first Lewis show in Vancouver.
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 1962 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Paris and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille 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 oboe sounds with much patience.
I was there when Michael McDonald 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 F. McDonald to the disco kids.
I played it at the Crocodile.
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 Beasts of Bourbon. All the underground hits.
All The Royal Family And The Poor tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Joensuu 1685 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and a güiro and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Ken Boothe record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought a güiro.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a theremin.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Camberwell Now,
Japan,
Hasil Adkins,
Delta 5,
Jandek,
Half Japanese,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Lower 48,
The New Christs,
New York Dolls,
Fat Boys,
Zero Boys,
Warsaw,
Hardrive,
Scientists,
Marvin Gaye,
John Coltrane,
Niagra,
The Offenders,
Nico,
Liliput,
Ronnie Foster,
The Happenings,
the Fania All-Stars,
Byron Stingily,
Bauhaus,
Magma,
John Holt,
Mad Mike,
Amon Düül II,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Popol Vuh,
Matthew Halsall,
Nik Kershaw,
Terry Callier,
Infiniti,
Agent Orange,
Radiopuhelimet,
The Divine Comedy,
Crooked Eye,
Thee Headcoats,
The Beau Brummels,
The Tremeloes,
Boredoms,
Bill Wells,
Boz Scaggs,
Public Enemy,
Eric B and Rakim,
Mandrill,
X-101,
Newcleus,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Eddi Front,
Marmalade,
The Litter,
The Young Rascals,
Saccharine Trust,
Delon & Dalcan,
Louis and Bebe Barron,
Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band, Average White Band.
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.