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 Bolivia and from Shanghai.
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 1968 to 1979.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in New York and Jakarta.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Madrid 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 1984 at the first Arcadia practice in a loft in London.
I was working on the oboe 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 Chris & Cosey to the jazz kids.
I played it at CBGB's.
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 Marine Girls. All the underground hits.
All Grandmaster Flash tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Young Marble Giants 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 '50s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a snare and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Siouxsie and the Banshees record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a guitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitar and bought a mellotron.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Robert Wyatt,
Moebius,
Gang Starr,
The Fugs,
H. Thieme,
Main Source,
Sonic Youth,
Von Mondo,
Soul Sonic Force,
Lalo Schifrin,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
Schoolly D,
New York Dolls,
Gregory Isaacs,
Wally Richardson,
Kayak,
Simply Red,
Silicon Teens,
Babytalk,
Gang Gang Dance,
Visage,
Susan Cadogan,
Sandy B,
ABBA,
Donny Hathaway,
Boz Scaggs,
Dave Gahan,
Tropical Tobacco,
Magazine,
The Pop Group,
Arab on Radar,
T. Rex,
Intrusion,
The Fortunes,
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson,
DeepChord presents Echospace,
The Grass Roots,
Barry Ungar,
Liliput,
Isaac Hayes,
Electric Prunes,
Avey Tare,
Little Man,
Gong,
Agent Orange,
Slick Rick,
OOIOO,
Pet Shop Boys,
Arcadia,
Sparks,
Rufus Thomas,
Ten City,
The Alarm Clocks,
June Days,
Deakin,
It's A Beautiful Day,
Ludus,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Man Eating Sloth,
Niagra, Niagra, Niagra, Niagra.
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.