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 Chile and from Toronto.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Beijing and Cairo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Woodstock 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 1971 at the first Big Star practice in a loft in Memphis.
I was working on the clarinet 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 Carl Craig to the funk kids.
I played it at the Roxy.
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 Bad Manners. All the underground hits.
All These Immortal Souls tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every James White and The Blacks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal electroclash 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 sitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a This Heat record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a theremin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your theremin and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Alison Limerick,
The Evens,
Kango’s Stein Massive,
Andrew Hill,
Scott Walker,
Spandau Ballet,
Mr. Review,
Little Man,
Sound Behaviour,
Ituana,
the Human League,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Second Layer,
Derrick Morgan,
Darondo,
Charles Mingus,
Eric Copeland,
Camouflage,
Juan Atkins,
Das Ding,
David McCallum,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Crooked Eye,
The Happenings,
Bizarre Inc.,
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks,
Mad Mike,
Donny Hathaway,
Terror Squad Feat. Camron,
Brand Nubian,
Animal Collective,
Gabor Szabo,
Crispian St. Peters,
Bobby Byrd,
Glenn Branca,
Barbara Tucker,
Liliput,
Skaos,
Radio Birdman,
Deakin,
Albert Ayler,
Porter Ricks,
Bobby Womack,
Sunsets and Hearts,
Hasil Adkins,
Alice Coltrane,
Circle Jerks,
Jesper Dahlback,
Radiohead,
Jandek,
Tubeway Army,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Y Pants,
Delta 5,
Guru Guru,
The Real Kids,
A Certain Ratio,
Minnie Riperton,
Pagans,
The American Breed,
Jeff Lynne,
Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail, Ponytail.
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.