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 Germany and from Delhi.
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 1962 to 1971.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lagos and Delhi.
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 1970 at the first Onyeabor practice in a loft in Enugu.
I was working on the snare 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 Mantronix to the dance kids.
I played it at the Spitz.
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 Model 500. All the underground hits.
All The Cure tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Teenage Jesus and the Jerks record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a guitar and an organ and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Rotary Connection record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Scientists,
Visionaries,LMNO, T- Love & Iriscience,
Jawbox,
Fat Boys,
Howard Jones,
The Searchers,
Bobbi Humphrey,
X-102,
Cameo,
Mary Jane Girls,
The Royal Family And The Poor,
Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo,
Boz Scaggs,
Au Pairs,
Gang Starr,
Eric B and Rakim,
Eric Copeland,
Sparks,
Throbbing Gristle,
Hardrive,
Livin' Joy,
F. McDonald,
Cecil Taylor,
Fifty Foot Hose,
Oblivians,
Spandau Ballet,
The Monks,
Television Personalities,
MDC,
Curtis Mayfield,
Liaisons Dangereuses,
Bauhaus,
The Residents,
Smog,
Robert Hood,
the Swans,
DNA,
Susan Cadogan,
a-ha,
The Modern Lovers,
Malaria!,
Popol Vuh,
Spoonie Gee,
The Cure,
Marc Almond,
Black Bananas,
Fugazi,
Traffic Nightmare,
Gang Green,
Lower 48,
The Mummies,
Tears for Fears,
Steve Hackett,
James Chance & The Contortions,
The Music Machine,
Harpers Bizarre,
Animal Collective,
Bronski Beat,
Avey Tare,
Charles Mingus,
The Wake,
The Durutti Column,
Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu, Drive Like Jehu.
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.