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 Norway and from Mumbai.
But I was there.
I was there in 1977.
I was there at the first Mistral show in Amsterdam.
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 1964 to 1978.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Woodstock.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Accra 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 1967 at the first Rodriguez practice in a loft in Detroit.
I was working on the theremin 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 Bronski Beat to the rap 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 Ossler. All the underground hits.
All Ultramagnetic MC's tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Gang of Four record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal grime hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and a synthesizer and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Cecil Taylor record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your spring reverb and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a spring reverb.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Erykah Badu,
X-Ray Spex,
Radiopuhelimet,
Sällskapet,
The Angels of Light,
Fort Wilson Riot,
Liliput,
Lafayette Afro Rock Band,
Agent Orange,
Prince Buster,
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth,
Frankie Knuckles,
the Human League,
Nik Kershaw,
Jandek,
Tres Demented,
Trumans Water,
John Coltrane,
Bronski Beat,
Sugar Minott,
The Monochrome Set,
Danielle Patucci,
Popol Vuh,
The Smiths,
Sarah Menescal,
Delta 5,
Depeche Mode,
Sun City Girls,
Nick Fraelich,
Fluxion,
Oppenheimer Analysis,
Dual Sessions,
Erasure,
Fugazi,
DJ Sneak,
Letta Mbulu,
Sparks,
These Immortal Souls,
Barclay James Harvest,
Spoonie Gee,
Thompson Twins,
Johnny Osbourne,
The Young Rascals,
Von Mondo,
the Slits,
Soul II Soul,
Traffic Nightmare,
Ten City,
Bill Wells,
Wolf Eyes,
Jacques Brel,
Roxy Music,
Donald Byrd,
Can,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
Mandrill,
Johnny Clarke,
Pet Shop Boys,
The Searchers,
Shoche,
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne, Jeff Lynne.
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.