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 Jordan and from Milan.
But I was there.
I was there in 1971.
I was there at the first Neu! show in Düsseldorf.
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 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Stockholm and Lagos.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Bologna 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 chamberlin 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 Dorothy Ashby to the disco kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
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 Siouxsie and the Banshees. All the underground hits.
All Curtis Mayfield tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Reuben Wilson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal funk hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a spring reverb and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bill Near record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your oboe and bought a sitar.
I hear that you and your band have sold your sitar and bought an oboe.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Basic Channel,
Cameo,
Grandmaster Flash,
Susan Cadogan,
K-Klass,
Visage,
Jerry's Kids,
Vladislav Delay,
Sarah Menescal,
Simply Red,
The Fortunes,
Marc Romboy vs. Booka Shade,
Patti Smith,
Heavy D & The Boyz,
Scion,
Mad Mike,
Tim Buckley,
Japan,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Lightning Bolt,
Barbara Tucker,
Ralphi Rosario,
Maurizio,
Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish,
The Index,
Chris Corsano,
Quando Quango,
Reagan Youth,
Grey Daturas,
Magazine,
Silicon Teens,
The Monks,
Wally Richardson,
Peter & Gordon,
Negative Approach,
Gang Gang Dance,
Grauzone,
The Sound,
Johnny Osbourne,
Faraquet,
MDC,
Shoche,
Bootsy's Rubber Band,
Gabor Szabo,
Ronan,
Babytalk,
DJ Sneak,
The Blackbyrds,
Amon Düül II,
Black Pus,
The Buckinghams,
ABBA,
Urselle,
Sandy B,
Jeff Lynne,
Dead Boys,
Bill Near,
X-102,
Darondo,
Tears for Fears,
Kool Moe Dee,
Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood.
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.