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 Bangladesh and from Sao Paulo.
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 1968 to 1974.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Bologna and Salvador.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Salvador 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 organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Nile Rodgers 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 New Age Steppers to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
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 The Detroit Cobras 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 rock hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a chamberlin and a harpsichord and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang on a Can All-Stars record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a chamberlin.
I hear that you and your band have sold your chamberlin and bought a clarinet.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Fela Kuti,
Matthew Bourne,
Camron Feat. Jay Z And Juelz,
Liliput,
Judy Mowatt,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Gabor Szabo,
Lalann,
Robert Hood,
Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines,
Roy Ayers,
Pussy Galore,
Rosa Yemen,
A Certain Ratio,
Cheater Slicks,
Masters at Work,
The United States of America,
Schoolly D,
Au Pairs,
Harry Pussy,
Sad Lovers and Giants,
The Sound,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
June of 44,
The Names,
Curtis Mayfield,
Selector Dub Narcotic,
The Music Machine,
Minor Threat,
Brand Nubian,
Electric Prunes,
Lightning Bolt,
Ludus,
The Techniques,
Man Eating Sloth,
The Invisible,
Sister Nancy,
Underground Resistance,
Morten Harket,
Joensuu 1685,
Rufus Thomas,
Henry Cow,
Panda Bear,
Kerri Chandler,
Cal Tjader,
Soulsonic Force,
Gil Scott Heron,
The Remains,
Sarah Menescal,
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy,
The Index,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Animal Collective,
Ajijia Myrayebe,
Silicon Teens,
Pulsallama,
Jandek,
Kenny Larkin,
Half Japanese,
Magma,
the Association,
JFA, JFA, JFA, JFA.
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.